Author Notes
This is one of my favorite sugar cookies recipes, of which I do not know the provenance, sadly. But I can tell you that it’s a fabulous base for an array of delicious cookie varieties, like the lemon-ginger suggestion here, a favorite at the Pound Ridge Farmers Market. Or try it with lime-coconut perhaps. Or cherry-almond. The permutations are endless. The version shown in the 2nd photo are the plain sugar cookies. —mrslarkin
Test Kitchen Notes
I had the pleasure of testing Mrs. Larkin's Chewy Sugar Cookies #1. They are delicious. Not too sweet, very buttery, with a big hit of vanilla extract that perfumes each cookie with delicious aroma. They are, as she says, a great vehicle for other flavors. (I included meyer lemon zest in mine; I didn't have candied ginger, but I could see that it would add a lot.) The cookies are soft more than they are chewy with nice crisp edges and great crunch from the turbinado sugar that I sprinkled on the top. They spread quite a bit and benefitted from a little longer chilling than she recommends. After making the first batch and seeing how much they spread, I refrigerated the second on the cookie sheet for another 30 minutes before baking. In my oven they took 14 minutes, and that was doing one sheet at a time. A small technical point -- since you are refrigerating the dough for 1/2 hour after making it, you don't have to line the cookie sheets or preheat the oven until the dough goes into the refrigerator. I think these cookies are wonderful and highly recommend them as an Editors' Pick. - drbabs —The Editors
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Ingredients
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1 cup
unsalted butter, room temperature
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1 cup
granulated sugar
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1 tablespoon
vanilla extract
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1
large egg
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2 cups
all-purpose unbleached flour (I use King Arthur)
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1/4 teaspoon
sea salt
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2 teaspoons
baking powder
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zest of 1 lemon (optional)
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1/2 cup
finely chopped candied ginger (optional)
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1 cup
turbinado, or course colored sugar
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thin lemon glaze made with confectioner's sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice (otional)
Directions
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Line several sheet pans with parchment paper.
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Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla. Beat for one minute. Scrape down sides of bowl.
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Add egg and beat for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl.
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Add flour, salt and baking powder. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl after 1 minute.
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Add lemon zest and ginger, if using, and stir to combine.
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Chill dough for ½ hour in refrigerator.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place course sugar in a small shallow bowl. With a small ice cream/cookie scoop (mine is 1 ½“ in diameter), scoop balls and drop a few at a time into the course sugar. Roll in sugar. Place on parchment-lined pans about an inch apart.
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Lay a sheet of parchment over the dough balls. Place a heavy sheet pan on top and press down slightly to flatten all the balls of dough to about 1/4” - 1/2" thick. Remove top pan and peel off top parchment. Sprinkle more sugar on top if desired.
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Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until just lightly golden around edges of cookies.Cool pans on racks.
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If you want to glaze the cookies, drizzle lemon glaze over top. Let the glaze firm up before storing in air-tight containers.
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