Sunday, August 21, 2011

Ultra Soft Sugar Cookies



I came across this recipe on a blog.


It seemed so simple and sounded so delicious.  I've attempted making soft sugar cookie before and have not found a successful one yet....until this one.  And when I say "soft" I mean ultra deliciously soft.  Fragile, almost.  They do become a bit sturdier if you bake them longer but then you sacrific the super soft texture.  I just used a simple buttercream icing to top them with and I made the icing fairly thin so it would easy to spread on such delicate cookies.  It developed a little bit of a crust after sitting (which I love!) but I made it thin enough that even after sitting for a few hours, I still couldn't stack them without smooshing the icing.

The only 2 changes I made to this recipe were to add a splash of almond extract along with the vanilla & I baked mine at 375 instead of the 400 the recipe suggests.  Oh, and I didn't flatten the balls of dough before I placed them in the oven. I used my cookie scoop so all the cookie balls were uniform in size. The dough scooped easily.  I didn't chill it at all before hand.  It was pretty warm in my kitchen so the dough was not stiff at all.  I can't imagine it would be easy to roll out at all. I would definitely chill it before I attempted something like that.

I've shared how soft the cookies were but I need to mention they were not dry at all. I'm sure that's due to the slight underbaking of them.  They weren't moist either but just kind of soft & cakey.  The flavor was just right. I can imagine that adding a vanilla bean would be awesome!  Or even other extracts - like maybe lemon or coconut.

I highly recommend this recipe if you are into soft cookies.  If you are shipping them then it would not be a good recipe. They are indeed fragile and can't be handled too much.  But they are sweet and pretty and just plain scrumptious!

Enjoy!














THE BEST FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES*

Hostess with the Mostess blog


1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt.


Preheat oven to 350º.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl: set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until mixed well. Add the dry ingredients slowly; mix well.  Roll the dough into balls and place on cookie sheet or use a cookie scoop to place on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake 10-15 mins (depends on size of cookies so start with 10 mintues) or until just the edges of cookies start to turn a very, very light golden brown. Don’t over-bake. For an extra-doughy consistency, remove the cookies before the edges start to brown..



*****.



5 comments:

Farida said...

Looks so sweet and yummyy....

Claire said...

very cute!

Sue/the view from great island said...

This is my most favorite kind of cookie...they almost look like little cakes. These kind of 'fragile' cookies are so nice to make because you could never buy them ready-made.

Anonymous said...

I made these and they came out tasting like cornbread. Do you know if I should add more sugar, or maybe something else?

Heidi said...

Cornbread huh? I don't think I ate one of these cookies without icing so of course, mine were supersweet since my icing is a VERY sweet buttercream. I guess they very well could not be sweet enough without the icing. You could probably add a bit more sugar but then you change the whole balance of the recipe. Or maybe you can add a lot of sparkling or sanding sugar on top before you bake - THAT would add some sweetness. Or you can ice them like I do - THAT adds a lot of sweetness. If you do try them again with more sugar in the dough, let me know the results!