Sweet and tender Sugar Cookies are the base for every holiday occasion with good reason.  They can be rolled out and cut into whatever shape you desire and decorated to your heart's content!

Classic Sugar Cookie Recipe

Everyone needs a Classic Sugar Cookie Recipe and this one, from my mom's recipe collection, is one we've made for years.  While the recipe has stayed the same I have adjusted the method over the years to yield the best results.  I dare say this is one of my favorite cookies of all time.

Just in time for Christmas, this cookie is easy to make and creates a tender sweet cookie that holds it's shape.  Perfect for cutting out cute Christmas shapes as I have done here and leaving on a plate for Santa this Christmas eve.

What can you use sugar cookies for?

• Perfect with dessert served with milk
• Eat them plain or decorated
• Use them for ice cream sandwiches
• Dunk them in milk
• Perfect for any holiday celebration, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Halloween, Graduation
• Serve them at a Tea Party
• Serve them along with an ice cream parfait, or pudding

What ingredients do I need?

• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt
• sugar
• butter
• egg
• vanilla

Substitutions and Variations

• Substitute almond extract for the vanilla
• mix-in can be added such as sprinkles, flavored chips (chocolate, white chocolate, cinnamon etc), or chopped candy bars
• Make drop cookies or form cookies by hand
• Decorate with Royal Icing, sprinkles, sanding sugar, frosting, pretzels, chopped nuts, oreo crumbs, chopped dried fruit

Kitchen Notes and Tips

• Bake on parchment paper so they don't over brown
• Remove from the oven just when the edges start to brown
• Roll out the dough evenly so the cookie all cook at the same rate.
• Splurge on a good pure vanilla extract
• Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to prevent spreading.
• Keep you working surface lightly floured - too much flour will create a dry cookie.
• Measure flour the "right way" - loosen the flour by giving it a good stir with a spoon or whisk. Next, spoon the flour into a measuring cup until heaping (piled beyond the rim of the measuring cup) and then level with the flat side of a knife. 

Enjoy!

Classic Sugar Cookie Recipe

makes: 2 dozen 4" cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To a large bowl add flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add in the flour mixture a little at a time.  Remove dough to a board and divide in half. Flatten each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature for 10 minutes, until soft enough to roll. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4-inch thick, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. 

Cut out cookies using desired cutters or templates. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough. Chill cookies until very firm, about 15 minutes,

Bake cookies until edges just start to turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes then remove to cool on wire racks.