Sugar Cookies
A classic holiday sugar cookie with a simple texture, perfect for cutting into shapes with cookie cutters and decorating with icing or sprinkles.
Ingredients
all-purpose flour
2¼ cups
baking powder
1 teaspoon
salt
½ teaspoon
unsalted butter (softened)
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks)
sugar
¾ cup
large egg
1
pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon
lemon zest (finely grated)
½ teaspoon
Colored sugar crystals, coarse sugar, nonpareils (for decorations)
Instructions
1
WHISK
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
2
USING
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add the sugar and beat well until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Mix in the flour mixture on low speed until fully incorporated and starting to clump together. Use your hands or a rubber spatula to gather the dough into a ball. Divide the dough in half, placing each half on a sheet of plastic wrap, pressing into a disk, and wrapping well. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or until firm. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)
3
PREHEAT
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
4
REMOVE
Remove one dough disk from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes or until slightly softened. Roll the dough between two sheets of wax paper to an even 1/4-inch thickness. Peel off the top sheet of wax paper and cut out the cookies close together to minimize scraps. Use a thin metal spatula to transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1.5 inches apart. Gather the scraps into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate; you can re-roll a few times. Repeat with the remaining dough.
5
IF
If decorating before baking, sprinkle the cookies with sugar and/or nonpareils. (Press the nonpareils gently so they don't roll off.) If you'd rather frost and decorate the cookies after baking, leave them undecorated.
6
BAKE
Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are light golden. The cookies shouldn't darken much. (If using 2 baking sheets, rotate them from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking.) Carefully transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
