Sugar Cookies are my favorite! I made them every holiday with my children. Now I make them with my grandkids. We make them for Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have so many different cookie cutters it is hard to decide which ones to use.
These cookies just make me so happy!
Nothing like wrapping the dough in parchment paper, putting it in the refrigerator and rolling it out to make the most delicious sugar cookies ever! I took these to a party last week and they completely disappeared.
These cookies are thick and soft. Roll them out to 1/2 inch thickness and then bake until there is just a golden edge at the bottom of the cookie.
Cool, frost and then devour!
How To Make
Valentine Sugar Cookies
1. As with every cookie recipe, you need to beat the sugar and fat for at least four minutes. This amount of time insures the sugar crystals are covered with sugar. Be patient! It really pays off.
2. Get the eggs ready and drop in one at a time. Having eggs that are room temperature is a must. Put them on the counter the night before you are going to make cookies. Now you have room temperature eggs!
3. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Continue to mix all ingredients well. Make sure to use a spatula and scrape down the inside of the bowl. You want to make sure everything is mixing evenly.
4. While the sugar, fat and egg mixture is going in your mixture, get all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make sure to use all the baking powder. This is what gives the cookies their lift and it adds a distinct flavor you cannot get without it.
5. Add the dry ingredients one spoonful at a time. If you used the whip attachment while mixing the sugar and fat, change it out for the paddle. If you are using a hand mixer, you might have to add the last bit of flour by hand. The dough gets very thick.
Adding the flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time will not take that long. The dough will be perfect if you take your time to add the dry ingredients slowly.
6. Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and drop one half on each sheet. Use your hands to shape the dough into a log of dough and then wrap it up in the parchment paper like a tootsie roll. Twist the ends and kind of push them into the dough to keep them twisted.
I love taking the dough out of the refrigerator in a log shape. The parchment paper comes right off and the dough is ready to flatten down and roll out.
7. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least two hours. You might be tempted to roll out your cookies right now and cook them. You will be disappointed how they turn out. The dough will be very soft. They will probably fall apart as you try and place your shapes on the cookie sheets. Patience is not one of my virtues, but it is with this recipe.
The dough needs to be cold when you put it in the
oven. It will give the cookies the right consistency and lift.
8. Peel off the parchment paper and squish the dough down with your hands on a floured surface. Push the dough into a rectangle. I use my hands to push the dough down before using my rolling pin. Then I barely need my rolling pin to get the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. This is probably the trickiest part of sugar cookies. Rolling them out to the right thickness. Thinner cookies will cook quickly and be crisp and hard. I want my cookies soft and thick.
9. Use a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass to cut out the shapes you want. Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet leaving an inch between each cookie. They will expand as they bake.
10. Bake for 15 minutes. You do not want these cookies under baked. They will not hold their shape and will be difficult to frost. Keep an eye on them as they cook. If the cookies start to brown on top, take them out.
11. Cool cookies completely before frosting.
