Easy Sugar Cookie Dough Recipe

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Use this versatile sugar cookie dough with cutouts, and freeze the rest for other cookie recipes.

Easy Sugar Cookie Dough Recipe
Photo: zoff-photo
Hands On Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
1 hrs 15 mins
Yield:
36 medium cookies

This basic sugar cookie recipe is simple, straightforward, and downright delicious. The key to the dough is working with room-temperature butter. Soft, pliable butter will whip more easily with the sugar, resulting in a creamy, fluffy base for the rest of the cookies.

Use your favorite cutout shapes, then serve the sugar cookies plain. If you want to get even fancier, decorate them with icing. If you have leftover dough, make an endless assortment of easy sugar cookie treats. Some delicious options: chocolate-hazelnut sandwich cookies, pecan logs, and jam thumbprints.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for the work surface

  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda

  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  • Coarse sanding sugar or turbinado sugar (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

  2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

  3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated (the dough will be stiff). Shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

  4. On a floured surface, roll the dough to ¼ inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut into shapes. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1½ inches apart. Sprinkle with the sanding sugar, if using.

  5. Bake until just beginning to brown at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

  6. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

180 Calories
11g Fat
21g Carbs
2g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Calories 180
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 11g 14%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Cholesterol 39mg 13%
Sodium 43mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 21g 8%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 2g

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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