♥Sugar Cookies♥

Like a handful of other pastries (ahem, cake brownies and pie), I've always had a sort of love-hate relationship with sugar cookies. As a child, the closest ones I ever had to "homemade" were the refrigerated Pillsbury ones; you know, the ones that came in a set of 12 with the little colored pictures on them. Unlike most cookies as a child, they never really "tickled my fancy": As I far as I knew, all sugar cookies tasted like the Pillsbury ones. They were (ahem: are) overly sweet yet bland, oily and chewy, nothing close to "fluffy and soft", always crispy. And, after I hit my health craze in 8th grade, I wouldn't even touch any Pillsbury products. I began despising all Hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, and artificial flavorings: everything the Pillsbury dough boy and his products are made of. It wasn't until this year that I finally discovered the sweet, fluffy, beautiful truth about sugar cookies. It was a revelation: they're actually edible and tasty too! Madness, no?

While it's been over 5 months since I've made these cookies (along with the handfuls of other recipes from summer), I feel the need to write about them anyway. Before this summer, I'd never made sugar cookies before and I was apprehensive: would they flatten in the oven and become gooey, oily messes on the pan? Would they be sweet enough? Too sweet? Would they be fluffy? I had no idea, and it didn't help that I had a package of Lofthouse sugar cookies sitting on my kitchen counter, laying around in their sweet, fluffy, dare I say, perfect glory. Typically I'm not a fan of most store bought cookies, but these... These are something else. The cookies are a bright, creamy ivory color, dusted with sweet powdered sugar. They're sturdy but melt in your mouth at the first bite, and  by themselves they're tasty enough. Then add on a smear of their colored frosting (which always matches the current holiday season), and wa-la: perfection. I could eat three, maybe four in one sitting if I wanted. They're unhealthily scrumptious, and with this in mind, mine had to be better.

I know it's ridiculous, absurd, and slightly unhealthy for my baking ego to attempt recreating processed, store-bought sugar cookies, made in a factory and probably filled with dozens if not hundreds of artificial flavorings, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, and sweeteners, but I couldn't help it. I never can: for muffins, for croissants, for breads and rolls and cupcakes and everything. Before processed pastries there were homemade ones, and if those were good enough for manufacturers to start mass producing, it's worth it to try my hand at making them.

 And I did, having great fun doing it. Have you ever seen those cute commercials, with a mom and her two kids, standing above their powdered-sugar covered table, rolling out cookie dough in those perfect little shapes? Well when I made them...it was almost as fun as it looked. The dough was a little sticky, but it was all good once it was rolled in powered sugar, making them that much sweeter. I cut out the shapes the old fashioned way, using round glasses dipped in more powdered sugar. The rolling pin and parchment paper made the process that much easier and refrigerating the dough overnight as the recipe instructed gave me a sense of assurance, letting me sleep easy at night knowing that the next day my cookies would not become oily puddles within my oven. When they were baked the next day, all my worries were baked away with them: out of the oven they came, perfectly circular and soft and sweet and full of loveliness. ☺

Now, I won't force you to use this recipe the next time you need a sugar cookie fix: I'll just strongly suggest using it. In addition to being one of the easiest cookies I've ever made, they're perfect for any of your sugar cookie needs: decorating them with your kids around the holidays, sending them to a distressed friend in need,  baking a batch to satisfy your family's sweet tooth, or just for the hell of it, because you can. They're sturdy but soft, which makes them perfect for frosting. Or, you know: for throwing a few sprinkles on top of them instead.

A few suggestions beforehand: make your dough, roll it out, and cut out your shapes the day before they're baked. Stick with rounder, more abstract shapes: even though they don't spread out, they do expand while baking and don't take well to intricate shapes like detailed snowflakes. "Gingerbread" men, snowmen, candy canes, Christmas trees, and simple snowflakes work out perfectly.

Sugar Cookies
Makes about about 1 dozen cookies

♥  1½ sticks of unsalted butter, softened (not melted; let sit out for about 2 hours before using)
♥ 1½ cups white sugar
♥ 2 eggs
♥ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
♥ 2½ cups all-purpose flour, bleached or unbleached
♥ 1 teaspoon baking powder
♥ ½ teaspoon salt
♥ Powdered sugar, for rolling

1.) ♥ In one bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt until just blended.
2.) ♥ In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes (with a stand mixer; for a hand held, 5 minutes). The mixer should be "fluffy" and creamy.
3.) ♥ Beat in  the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
4.) ♥ Cut out a piece of a parchment paper big enough to fit your cookie sheet. Place on large, clear working surface. Sprinkle powdered sugar over paper. Roll out dough on sheet with sugar, cutting out desired shapes. Cut out as many as will fit from first sheet, leaving about 1 inch between each cookie and pull excess dough from around shapes. Repeat with leftover dough on separate cookie sheet. 
5.) ♥ Refrigerate dough. I highly suggest letting them sit overnight, but if not, at least an hour or two before baking.
6.) ♥ Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake 6 to 8 minutes, making sure to check often to prevent burning and crisping from bottom. Remove from oven and slide cookies carefully onto cooling rack. Let cool and decorate the way of your choosing, or eat hot and fresh from the oven. ☺

Happy Baking!

♥