Perfect Sugar Cookies

My mother was (and still is in her bones,) a master baker. She used to do crazy things like make sugar cookie boxes to wrap our childhood Christmas gifts. (Seriously!) I was just 12-years old when she learned she was gluten-intolerant, and her codex of favorite holiday cookies was passed down to me. Perfect sugar cookies was the top of the pile.

Whimsy and magic are ingredients in perfect sugar cookies, and so is science. Even with the best ingredients around, you can’t make great cookies without these three.

I taught my friends at the Rapha RCC how to make perfect sugar cookies tonight over Zoom, which was pretty much the most fun baking cookies I’ve ever had. I shared all of the lessons that years of holiday baking (plus a culinary degree) have taught me about how to create delicious, picture perfect sugar cookies in your own kitchen this holiday.

It all begins with a great recipe

If I recall correctly, my mother’s recipe (and now mine,) came from Sesame Street, where all things magical came from in the ’80’s. I’ve shared it below. The recipe calls for a few basic ingredients, and comes together with a few untechnical, but critical steps.

See the recipe notes included for some must-do steps for the perfect sugar cookies. Beyond that, here are a few extra tips to make them exceptional:

Add a great frosting

No one was avoiding granulated sugar like the plague when I was a little person, and when the holidays roll around and my kitchen turns on, I revert to that enchanted place where sugar does all sorts of magical things, especially when mixed with egg white and a little food coloring. My favorite recipe is below!

Of course, now, we have lots of options for how to employ these confectionary powerhouses. If raw egg white freaks you out, or if you have populations in your cookie tribe who are avoiding it, meringue powder is a great option. For vegans, vegan egg replacer is your go-to substitute. All natural, plant-based food colorings are widely available too. 

Pro frosting techniques

…are actually no secret! Egg white, sugar and a teeeny tiny bit of water will do the trick! For creating puffy frosting shapes, I add almost no water to the whimsical frosting produced by the recipe below. But, to fill in glossy or glaze-y frosting, I add a bit of water. (Hint: you can use different thickness of the same frosting to create different effects on your cookies!)

Play with the thickness of frosting in your own kitchen.

Troubleshooting perfect sugar cookies

Ok! So you’ve followed the recipe to a tee. And you’re still having problems making sugar cookies that look, and taste perfect? I’ve got you.

• Burned cookies: consistent thickness is really important! Make sure that you’re rolling your cookies to a consistent thickness, don’t bake thinner cookies with thicker cookies. Also, bake cookies that are roughly the same size!

• Misshapen cookies: when the butter in your cookies warms, it will start to leach out of the dough. This can happen just sitting on the countertop in your kitchen OR when the dough gets overworked! Work quickly, handle the dough as little as possible!
• Runny frosting: make sure you’re not adding too much water, and that you’re using a stabilizer – egg white is THE TICKET and make sure it’s whipped amply! Vegan stabilizers or egg replacers can also work here.