Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sinfully soft sugar cookies

Had to share! I made these on Sunday - they are just the most delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cookies you'll ever taste. This is my favorite baked good on the planet. =) Enjoy!

SOFT SUGAR COOKIES

8 ounces (1 cup) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup confectioners, sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup colored sugar or sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or spraying with vegetable shortening.
3. Using a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and confectioners' sugar and continue beating until nice and fluffy. Scrape bowl. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
4. On low-medium speed, mix in canola oil. Scrape bowl again. Add baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and blend well.
5. With mixer on low speed, add flour 1 cup at a time. Beat well, and scrape sides of bowl making sure to get down to the very bottom.
6. Is the kitchen hot and humid? Chill the dough for 30 minutes before scooping and baking.
7. Roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, leaving room for the cookies to spread.
*8. Bake at 325 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until the outside of cookies feel slightly firm to the touch.
9. Remove and cool on racks before storing in airtight containers.
Makes 50-60 delicious Soft Sugar Cookies!

*Took 14 minutes baking time for me. =)

You can use any type of frosting you'd like, but here's the one I used, from one of my cookbooks:

BASIC BUTTER FROSTING

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/3 cup light (10%) cream or evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large mixer bowl, cream butter and half of confectioner's sugar until light and creamy. Add cream and vanilla. Gradually add remaining confectioner's sugar, beating until smooth. Add a little more cream if frosting is too stiff, or a little more confectioner's sugar if too thin, to make a soft spreading consistency.

*Now, I had to do some adjusting with this. It was WAY thin! So I ended up adding about 4 more cups of confectioner's sugar...crazy! With that, it lost some of the butter flavor, so I added a little bit more cream and a cap full of butter flavoring. In the end I got the perfect consistency and perfect flavor!


2 comments:

Whitney Bennett said...

Oh my goodness...those look amazing. I am going to make them as soon as allen leaves for work tonight! I have never seen a sugar cookie recipe with powdered sugar inside the dough. That would make the world of difference! I am sooo excited to make those tonight! :)

Brandy said...

I stumbled across these today on pinterest and can't wait to make them today! I'm making them for our primary children at church as a treat this Sunday. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.

Brandy
Gluesticks
www.brandyscrafts.blogspot.com