Sugar cookies are easy to make and these can be decorated however you like – think candy cane stripes, snowmen, or reindeer!
Ingredients
- 225g / 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (or use salted, skip salt)
- 1 cup caster/superfine sugar (granulated/ordinary white sugar ok too)
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (55-60g / 1.9-2oz)
- 3 cups flour, plain/all-purpose
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
Method
- Preheat Oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy (1 minute on speed 5)
- Add egg and vanilla, beat until completely combined.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Start mixing slowly, then beat until the flour is incorporated – it will be clumpy.
- Dust your work surface with flour, scrape dough out of the bowl. Pat together then cut in half, then shape into 2 discs.
- Roll out to 0.3cm / 1/8” (for thinner, crispier cookies) or 0.6cm / 1/4” (for thicker, softer cookies), sprinkling with flour under and over the dough so it doesn’t stick.
- Use cookie cutters to press out shapes and use a knife or spatula to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheets. (Keep dough that doesn’t fit in the oven in the fridge).
- Bake for around 10 minutes until the surface is pale golden and the edges are just beginning to turn light golden.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on trays (they will finish cooking on the trays).
- Decorate your cookies with icing (add green or red food colouring to make it Christmasey!), melted chocolate, or dust with icing sugar.