3-In-1 Sugar Cookies

⏱ 65 mins 🍽 4 dozen, 1 serving(s) 🏷 Dessert

This adaptable recipe lets you create sugar cookies in three distinct styles from a single batch of dough. The buttery dough, flavoured with vanilla and a hint of orange zest, can be shaped into rolled balls, sliced logs, or rolled and cut into festive shapes. After a brief chill, the cookies bake to a golden finish. Once cooled, they are ready for decoration with coarse sugar or royal icing, making them a perfect treat for any occasion. The recipe yields approximately four dozen cookies.

3-In-1 Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
  • coarse sugar, aka sanding or crystallized sugar
  • royal icing (from Royal Icing recipe)

Method

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and fine salt.
  2. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the room-temperature butter with the granulated and confectioners' sugars for about 30 seconds until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and finely grated orange zest until fully combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, continuing to beat until a dough forms, scraping down the bowl as required.
  3. For rolled cookies: Take roughly a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball by hand. Press one side of each ball into some coarse sugar, then place them sugar-side up on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing them about 1-inch apart.
  4. For sliced cookies: Separate the dough into two equal halves. Roll each portion by hand into a log roughly 2-inches wide. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, for at least 2 hours.
  5. Slice the chilled logs into cookies about 1/4-inch thick. Arrange the slices on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch of space between them.
  6. For cutout cookies: Split the dough in half and pat each portion into a disk. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill until firm, for at least 2 hours.
  7. Roll one disk of dough between sheets of lightly floured parchment or waxed paper until it is approximately 1/3-inch thick. Place the parchment sheet on a baking tray and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, then transfer them to ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Gather any scraps, pat into a disk, chill, and reroll.
  8. Place the baking sheets with the shaped cookies in the refrigerator. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and chill the cookies for at least 30 minutes.
  9. Bake the cookies until the bottoms turn golden, which will take about 10 to 15 minutes depending on their shape. Let them cool on the sheets until firm enough to move to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as you like with royal icing. Serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium814100 mg

Recipe details

CategoryDessert
Authorhansje54