Sugar Cookies
I saved some of the sugar cookies my nephew and I made for Christmas to celebrate my first pictures taken with my new camera. The pictures were a little overexposed, I've been told, but the cookies were cute enough and they tasted wonderful.
Amanda's Amazing Sugar Cookies II (from I Am Baker)
Makes 5-6 dozen 3" cookies depending whether they were rolled 1/8 or 1/4" thick
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 whole eggs
2 eggs yolks
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
In a mixer or food processor, beat or cream the butter and sugar together until they are well combined which will take about 2 minutes. If you take your butter straight out of the fridge, it will take longer to incorporate the sugar.
Add in 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks and mix until combined.
Add in vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly (about a cup at a time) add flour to the butter mixture and combine. Unless you've got a strong arm, the mixer or food processor is preferable to using a wooden spoon for this step.
Wrap the dough in Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
About 15 minutes before you want to start rolling out the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Use a silpat or a sheet of parchment paper to line a light coloured aluminum baking sheet or the bottoms of the cookies will get too dark.
NOTE: DO NOT OVERHANDLE the dough or it will soften too much and you won't be able to lift the cookies to transfer them to the baking sheet.
Roll dough out at least 1/4" thick using as little flour as possible. You can roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to help. If the dough sticks, it's too warm.
Cut out cookies, transfer to the baking sheets and bake for 6-8 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just start to get some color. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack until room temperature.
Gather together the scraps, roll in saran wrap, refrigerate and once they are cooled, reroll and cut out more cookies.
Amanda's Amazing Sugar Cookies II (from I Am Baker)
Makes 5-6 dozen 3" cookies depending whether they were rolled 1/8 or 1/4" thick
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 whole eggs
2 eggs yolks
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
In a mixer or food processor, beat or cream the butter and sugar together until they are well combined which will take about 2 minutes. If you take your butter straight out of the fridge, it will take longer to incorporate the sugar.
Add in 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks and mix until combined.
Add in vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly (about a cup at a time) add flour to the butter mixture and combine. Unless you've got a strong arm, the mixer or food processor is preferable to using a wooden spoon for this step.
Wrap the dough in Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
About 15 minutes before you want to start rolling out the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Use a silpat or a sheet of parchment paper to line a light coloured aluminum baking sheet or the bottoms of the cookies will get too dark.
NOTE: DO NOT OVERHANDLE the dough or it will soften too much and you won't be able to lift the cookies to transfer them to the baking sheet.
Roll dough out at least 1/4" thick using as little flour as possible. You can roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to help. If the dough sticks, it's too warm.
Cut out cookies, transfer to the baking sheets and bake for 6-8 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just start to get some color. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack until room temperature.
Gather together the scraps, roll in saran wrap, refrigerate and once they are cooled, reroll and cut out more cookies.