Looking for a good sugar cookie recipe.

I made pinwheel cookies and checkerboard cookies this week and they came out very, very pretty... but the taste was only so-so. I'm looking for a yummier recipe for a sugar cookie dough. I think the one I used was OK, but adding the cocoa powder to make the dark part of the dough made them a lot less sweet.

And no, I'm not a great cookie maker. I usually just buy dough and then we eat it without ever baking it, LOL. But I remember making cookies from scratch and wanted to do that with the kids, and Zoe is having a cookie exchange tomorrow in preschool. She loves making them from scratch. A couple of weeks ago we were out running errands and she asked if after we went to the post office we could go to the cookie office.

Lucky you, we are are only allowed to send in packaged foods with ingredients listed, although there are no food allergies in Saige's class.

I have one but I wont give it to you, I need a new one so I will be watching- I want fluffy moist sugar cookies.

Not sure if you specifically need a recipe for a rolled cookie, but here's an excellent one that is not rolled out and cut into shapes. Notice the high vanilla content, plus the addition of orange, lemon, and almond flavorings. They really give these a great taste.

General Store Sugar Cookies

This recipe is a blue ribbon winner, reminiscent of a General Store cookie-jar cookie. Large, crackly cookies, that are old-fashioned crispy-edged, with chewy centers.

3/4 cup (6 oz.) vegetable shortening
1/4 cup (1 stick - 2 oz.) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed firm
2 tablespoons vanilla
2-3 drops each: orange, lemon, and almond extract
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Sugar for rolling dough in Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment or baking paper.

Cream shortening with butter until fluffy and then blend in white sugar, and brown sugar. Add in eggs, vanilla, orange, lemon and
almond extracts.

Mix salt, baking soda and flour and fold into batter, blending to make a firm dough.

Form dough into balls - golf ball size for huge cookies, smaller for more modest ones. Toss cookies in a paper bag filled with
about l cup of sugar to coat.

Place cookies on sheet, allowing two to three inches between each. Press cookies down, using a glass dipped in sugar. For a
more crackly cookie, brush sugared cookies with water and re-sprinkle with sugar to achieve the crispy tops.

Bake 10-12 minutes until cookie edges are very lightly browned. Remove, using a large metal spatula and cool on rack. Cookies crisp up as they cool and become less fragile. If you overbake them they will get to hard after cooling. Makes six to seven dozen

I have a sugar cookie recipe that I swear by. I took two different recipes that I liked and kind of used some things from one and some from the other. I make them every year and give them as gifts to the mailman, UPS man, neighbors..etc. The kind I make are the thicker, soft kind, almost like the frosted sugar cookies that you can buy in the package at Walmart. They are a rolled cookie, but very simple. I usually use a bottom of a good sized drinking glass as my cookie cutter because its nice and big (I don't make anything small).

Sugar Cookies

1 Cup margarine (softened)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 TBS vanilla
(cream together first 4 ingredients)

In a seperate bowl mix together:
3 1/2 cups white flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt`1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

Add the dry flour mixtureinto the wet mixture one cup at a time, mixing it in very well. It gets kind of stiff. Flour your hands and try to ball up the dough, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the dough ball so that it won't stick to the saran wrap and wrap it and chill it for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. After chilled take out and roll out onto floured surface and cut. I make them thick and soft so I usually roll them to about a1/4 in thickness. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 6 to 7 minutes. Let cool and frost.

Wanted to add how I decorate these. I take white sugar and put it in a ziploc baggie and add food coloring and usually let the kids take the ziploc baggie and squish it around until the food color is mixed in and the sugar is tinted. I frost the cookie with the same color frosting and then sprinkle a good amount of sugar on each one so it looks sparkly. I usually do them in ice blue and lavender color, but have also done them in green, gold, turquoise..depends on the person I am making them for and sometimes I will also match the colors with the packaging. I buy the Decorated cardboard wine boxes at the dollar store and line them with tissue paper or wax paper and then I stack the cookies after the frosting has a chance to set.

I'm going to try both.

Kelly, my SIL makes hundreds of those thick sugar cookies and decorates them every year. My boys always go over to help decorate them. Last year my 21 year old finally told me he never really cared for those cookies. LOL She puts sour cream in hers, and swears that they are the best for rolling out. I don't do rolled cookies, but if anyone wants her recipe i can ask her. I'd encourage you to play with the flavorings though, if you have a recipe that rolls out good for you already. They really can make a big difference. And I always have lemon extract here. It flames when you light it and I use it for the Flaming Ghost Cake every Halloween. I meant to post the recipe (actually, just the method) but forgot to. Kids get a big kick out of it. All right - I get a big kick out of it.

I have played around with almond, and lemon in them before. The kids liked the almond, I prefer them plain, but you got me to thinking about maybe trying just a little of butter flavored extract, i might like that... A person could try cinnamon, ginger, even coconut flavoring and they would be good..

I think I'll try both of those recipes. I do roll them out, but what I do is take half the batch, add a bunch of cocoa powder until that dough is dark, then roll out both doughs separately into rough squares. Then you lay the chocolate batch on the plain batch and roll them up into a log. When you cut slices, they've each got a swirl pattern.



The checkerboards are the same sort of thing but more complicated. You roll them out and cut them into little squares that you arrange in a checkerboard pattern. You put them in three rows of three:











Then the kids mush them until they stick together and you bake them. Anyhow, when they're done you can play tic-tac-toe on them with m&m's.

Karen, I have done the swirl pattern ones you're talking about but I did them in chocolate and green (mint flavor) swirls and if the swirls come out perfect I call them chocolate mint swirls, if the swirls come out kooky I call them Grinch cookies, and the kids would rather that I screw them up everytime, they think they are "cooler" that way.

I was thinking of doing chocolate and pink peppermint since Zoe will be helping me make them, LOL.

Oh thank you all so mcuh, I have been looking for a fool proof recipe, mine is rather short and heavy from my grandma!!

I am stuck, I just have the crisco sticks and real butter, does it matter which on you use?

Do they all 3 work for each in these recipes?

Thank you

mrschia, the way I understand the difference between using butter vs margarine is that butter, at room temp, is firmer than margarinne is when it's at room temp. So I believe it may change the consistency of the final baked good as far as crunchy vs chewy. .. The receipe will still be valid, and the taste will still be there.

I say...give it a try and let us know how it works ot for you!

Thank you!!!! It is in the fridge chilling with butter and I will let you all know

mrschia my mom says you can usually substitute butter with good margarine (higher veg, oil content- the less veg oil the more 'runny')

OK, I made them and they are HUGE, I mean giant huge puffy cookies. I think I rolled them out too thick and my gingerbread men look like fat Pillsbury Boys. I will post picks if anyone wants me to. LOL

Oh well, the kids like them, and I guess that is all that matter. We will decorate them when they get up from naps.... God help me!

They taste great!

Thanks everyone for your help!

yes i want pictures lol!! Sounds fun!!!

Oh, they look perfect! I want one.

awesome!!!! Hope they taste as yummy as they look!!

I'm hungry, lol

Oh, wow, I have a recipe that includes cream cheese and it's to die for! I can't show up at Christmas without them. I'll pull it out and post soon.

Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter, softened
8oz cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond flavoring

Beat margarine and cream cheese with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add half the flour, the sugar, egg, baking powder and flavorings. Beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Divide dough into thirds. Wrap in wax paper and chill overnight. Roll into 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes at 375.