Recipe Of The Week: Sugar Cookies For Your Holiday Baking Session
Baking cookies is a holiday tradition. Although there are many different cookie recipes out there, no cookie-baking session is complete without traditional sugar cookies.
Sugar cookies are ideal for cutting and decorating, which makes them great selections for holiday baking sessions. This recipe for “Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies” from “Butter, Flour, Sugar, Joy” (Sourcebooks) by Danielle Kartes is perfect for family baking sessions this holiday season.
Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
In a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or by hand, cream the sugar, butter, and cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes; add the egg, vanilla, almond extract, and salt; mix well.
Add the flour and cream of tartar and mix by hand until it just comes together. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, but overnight is best. When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough on a floured surface into a 1/4-inch thick rough circle and use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out shapes.
Place them on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until set.
Continue this process until you’ve used up all the dough. Cool cookies on sheets of foil and frost once completely cool. These cookies are fine to eat right away, but Kartes feels they get their signature touch when frosted and left out overnight. The author does not put them away until the next morning.
For the frosting, cream the butter, cream cheese, almond extract, and salt until light and fluffy; slowly add the confectioners’ sugar. Kartes likes hers less sweet, so she uses 4 cups of confectioners’ sugar, but you may use up to 6 cups. Feel free to color small bowls of the frosting and decorate the cookies with sprinkles or tiny candies.
