Sugar Cookies: A Cautionary (but Delicious) Tale

I think that of all sugar cookies in history, this may be the most disastrous, most strange, and most fun of all! But please do nnnnnnoooooooooooootttttttttttttttttttt add too much butter. Double the butter may be tooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much butter. Watch out cause we put double the butter, and we created a monster! 😭

Watch Vesper and her sous-chef make sugar cookies!

Vesper's paternal grandmother, who she calls "Gigi", served as sous-chef, and Mom got pulled in a few times too. Keep an eye out for a cameo appearance by Gigi's dog, Buster.

Oh, and this time you don't have to wait until the end for bloopers - they're part of the show!

Recipe

We had planned to use the recipe from Cook's Illustrated The New Best Recipe. Unfortunately, when we went to visit Gigi and the Grandfather over Easter weekend we left our cookbook at home. Instead, we (sort of) followed a recipe from one of Gigi's cookbooks, though there was a healthy dose of improvisation on Vesper's part (there always is!)

The recipe said it made 4 dozen cookies. We got about 2 dozen. The amount of dough-sculpting, thickness to which you roll the dough, the skill of the bakers, and the size of the cookie cutters used all factor into the yield.

On a positive note, these cookies – though they looked less than promising – received rave reviews from our taste testers. We were surprised! In the words of one tester, "I admit, I don't actually like sugar cookies, but these are delicious!" Given that, we've decided to share Vesper's recipe below. If you'd prefer to stick with a more sugar-forward flavor, halve the amount of butter.

While we cannot in good conscience endorse Vesper's bold vision for 3D sugar-cookie-egg sculptures (see result at the end), we wouldn't stop you from trying. We once (semi-)successfully sculpted 3D Thanksgiving-themed sugar cookies, so it is possible. Whatever you decide, be brave, remember 1/2 cup of butter = 1 stick, and most of all have FUN baking!

Ingredients

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened (plus a bit of extra to grease the pans if desired)
1 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
2 T. whole milk
1/2 t. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder

Equipment

Mixing bowls
Rubber spatula
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Cookie cutters
2 sheet pans
Wire cooling racks
Electric hand mixer (optional)
Parchment paper (optional)
Large plastic Ziploc bag (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Grease or line two large sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla.

Then cream together either by hand or with an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until well combined (30 seconds to a minute)

Add the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix together either by hand or with the electric mixer on medium speed until just combined (30 seconds to a minute). Do not overmix.

Place the dough in a large plastic bag. The dough can be rolled out at this time while inside the bag. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough and (if not rolled out prior to chilling), place small pieces of dough on a well-floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 inch thick (ours were a little thicker).

Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and place cookies on the sheet pans.

Bake for 8-12 minutes (until lightly golden at the edges). Ours were thick so they took a little longer.

Decorate with icing if desired (we left ours plain and simple).

Vesper's Tiny Chef Tips

Tip 1: Remember to always think ahead to see if there are any problems.

Tip 2: Don't forget to chill or cool the cookies for 30 minutes.

Tip 3: One stick of butter (not two) = 1/2 cup

BUT FRIENDS LET'S REMEMBER THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU HAVE FUN AND ENJOY YOUR FOOD!

Visit and subscribe to Vesper's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@vespercooks