This Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe has been handed down through several generations in my family. They really are the most delicious sugar cookies.
I make sugar cookies several times a year for many of our favorite holidays. Cookies for Santa are traditionally sugar cookie stars or trees, and what would Halloween be without a sugar cookie pumpkin or witch.
We prefer large, at least palm sized sugar cookies. I roll them out on fairly thick and bake them until the bottoms just barely begin to brown, so that they are so soft and tender they almost fall apart.
So when they posted the September Daring Bakers’ challenge I was confident in my sugar cookie baking ability. However, I’ve never used royal icing and I really need to work on my decorating skills. So I thought it would be fun to invite a couple of my foodie friends, Maria, Two Peas and Their Pod and Tiffany, Food Finery, and her sweet daughter, Kennedy, over to help bake and decorate sugar cookies with me.
I tried to be prepared before they came over. I made and chilled the dough and I even rolled out half of the dough so we could get right to work. The part that I really messed up preparing for was the decorating. I didn’t have the proper tips; my royal icing was too thick to properly flood the cookies; and who knew that you had to let the flooded cookies dry for at least 2 -3 hrs before finishing the decoration. But we did the best we could with what I gave them to work with and had a great time making cookies and enjoying each other’s company.
I’m hoping they’ll let me host a do-over soon. Because after they left I visited, Brown Eyed Baker, she had posted some gorgeous decorated sugar cookies with a great tutorial on how to decorate with royal icing. Now the next time I try decorating with royal icing, I will be prepared. Of course, after I read the instructions on Brown Eyed Baker, I took a look at the challenge recipe and all the the same information was there if I had taken the time to read the entire challenge.
The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking. The theme for the cookies was “September”. Whatever happens in our life in September, that’s what our cookies were to be about. For me, September is all about football. I’ve had a son playing football for the past 10 years and I love cheering them on from the sidelines. So of course, I had to have some football cookies.
I have a favorite sugar cookie recipe adapted from a recipe given to me by my sister-in-law that I’ve been using for years, but I also made the Daring Bakers recipe. I was so surprised to see the side by side comparison of the two cookies.
My sugar cookie recipe, the cookie on the top, includes baking soda and baking powder and produces a very tender sugar cookie, but it also puffs up more and doesn’t maintain it’s shape as well as the Daring Bakers recipe.
So if the shape of the cookie is very important I would recommend the Daring Baker recipe. If you’re looking for a softer, more tender cookie, give my old favorite a try.
Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs beaten
Instructions
- Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, or pulse in a food processor until mixture looks like sand.
- Mix in sugar. Mix in beaten eggs and knead into a ball.
- Divide into two pieces and form into two disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
- Cut out shapes and place on baking sheets. *
- Bake at 375º 6 to 8 minutes.
Notes
Thanks Mandy for helping me to step out of my comfort zone and try my hand at decorating. I am now even more impressed with the beautiful cookies and cakes that I see daily on your blogs. Stop by the Daring Kitchen to see of slideshow of the fabulous cookies the Daring Bakers whipped up.
marla {family fresh cooking}
Your cookies came out adorable! Love the fall themed colors, shapes and artwork. So fun that you got to create these with Maria and Tiffany too. Gotta check out that tutorial at Brown Eyed Baker.
Mimi
What a fun idea to share the project. You did a great job. Tell me how the banana fits in?
Mimi
kathleen
Adorable cookies!!!
daniela
Sei bravissima con i dolci, questi biscottini sono perfetti, decorati alla perfezione, e certamente squisiti.
Ciao Daniela.
Lisa
Barbara, you really went all out and your cookies are adorable! Love the footballs and pumpkins! I think you did a fanastic job!!
bake in paris
So many variety, just love the detail and colors…. The football cookies are so sporty, love them 🙂
Sawadee from bangkok,
Kris
Katie@Cozydelicious
My husband would love these cookies! I might have to make them for Sunday.
Barbara | VinoLuciStyle
It’s been fun to see so many decorated cookies lately. I used to make 25 dozen for the holidays and give them as gifts. I’m not sure I want to resurrect that again, but this is a reminder of the fun I had with a couple of girlfriends who did it with me.
Cristie
I think you’re being to hard on yourself, the cookies look terrific! And of course the school you’re supporting isn’t bad either 🙂 I must have 30 icing tips in my container. You never know when you might need just the right tip for something special. The problem is you might only end up using it once or twice and then it sits all lonely gathering dust. How fun you spent baking time with Tiff and Maria, I can almost hear your laughter.
Grace
The cookies are so cute 🙂 Sounds like a fun time
FOODESSA
Barabara…I love when we are inspired to pull out the child we still have in us. These cookies says a lot about your light and charming personality.
Looking forward to the next cookies ;o)
Ciao for now,
Claudia
Cakelaw
These are all super cute – I like the football themed ones the best.
KalynsKitchen
Love the Utes cookies!
Evelyne@CheapEthnicEatz
I love all your cookies and can’t believe the variety, wonderful job
Pam
You did such a great job! They are all so cute.
Faith
My mom’s sugar cookies are like yours, very soft and tender (yum!)…it’s always nice to try a new recipe though and I like how the new recipe holds their shape. Lovely cookies!
Maybelles mom
I think you did a great job. But I do feel like the roayl icing decorative skills.
Anna Johnston
Wow Barbara, if these are your practice run, I can’t wait to see the cookies your proud of, I think these are awesome, so bright and fun.
Tanvi
Hi Barbara,
Hopped on to you site via twitter ..and viola how darn cute cookies await me…Love the little banana and pumpkin ones.
I feel ,its so important to have a wonderful time with family and friends and enjoy the moments …another batch of cookies can be made anytime, for another baker’s challenge..as they say that the journey is more important than the destination.
Monet
You did a wonderful job Barbara! So many fun shapes and colors. You are very talented…I am not the best at icing cookies, so I would have been hesitant to get so creative. Thank you for sharing!