These sugar cookies…OH EM GOODNESS these sugar cookies. These are my ALL time favorite cookies.

To start, my mother has hoarded this recipe for years, and I don’t mean that lightly. She was very hesitant to give up this recipe and I had to literally beg her (and promise her 60% of all profits ?) to let me share it with the world. You guys don’t even know how luck you are! Once you make these cookies, you will understand.

These sugar cookies are LEGENDARY in my circle of friends. They are often requested for parties and potlucks. In fact I’m pretty sure that sometimes I only get invited to events just because I will bring these cookies. They have affectionately been dubbed “CRACK Cookies” in my circle of friends. Not the most charming of names but it does accurately describe their addictiveness. ?

Every year around Halloween time my step father-in-law starts hovering and dropping hints that it is “cookie season”. I recently shared some with my chiropractor and he, claiming he didn’t know he was supposed to share with the rest of the office, ate the entire box. In one day. By himself. Crack, I’m telling you.

These sugar cookies are perfect for any holiday or event. They are fluffy and soft and an amazing texture. The sour cream adds a depth of flavor and they are not overly sweet. Kind of like shortbread, only softer. I bake them up for Easter, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Shark Week and everything in between!

They aren’t difficult to make but the key is to chill the dough. Chilling the dough will make it so much easier to work with and your cookies will retain their cutout shapes. If you try to rush it, the dough will stick to EV-VER-REE-THING. Also your cutout shapes (if you can even manage transferring them to the baking sheet in tact) will spread out and look like a blobfish. So take the time to chill, man. ?

Another tip I have is to use a silicone parchment mat. I have baked a LOT of batches of these cookies over the years and they haven’t turned out better than when I use my aluminum baking sheets and silpat mats. They aren’t too bad on those airbake cookie sheets but I feel they get more dried out even on those. I am totally sold on the silpats. I picked these up on Amazon and they have been great! They are also pretty colors!

I don’t get super crazy with my decorating (other than copious amounts of sprinkles!!) because to be honest, these cookies don’t need it. They are so amazingly delicious on their own that I don’t want any fancy junk getting in the way. The Boy likes them best just plain without any frosting at all.

Personally I think the ONLY way to eat these cookies is with this cream cheese frosting. The frosting has a rich flavor with just enough sweetness but not enough that it will make your teeth hurt like most frostings. It’s the perfect flavor and texture pairing and keeps the cookies moist if you are making them ahead of time.

They also make a really good base for royal icing decorating. I still haven’t found a royal icing that doesn’t taste like sugared cement, but dang if they don’t look pretty!

You guys, you don’t even know what you are missing. I promise you if you try these cookies you will be ruined for any other sugar cookies for the rest of your life. Use caution when tasting. You can never go back from this. You have been warned (and encouraged!).

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The Most Awesome Ever Sugar Cookies

By Heidi

April 12, 2017

• Categorized: Desserts

These AWESOME sugar cookies are perfect for any holiday or event. They are fluffy and soft and an amazing texture. The sour cream adds a depth of flavor and they are not overly sweet. Kind of like shortbread, only softer. I bake them up for Easter, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Shark Week and everything in between!

• Prep Time: 1h
• Cook Time: 40m
• Yield: 4 dozen cookies (depending on the size of your cutouts)

Ingredients

Cookies

• 4 1/2 c flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c shortening
• 2 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 c sour cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting

• 1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
• 1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted sweet cream butter (softened at room temperature)
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. of milk or heavy cream (optional)

Instructions

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer) cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add in the vanilla and sour cream and cream until incorporated.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, a little at a time, mixing in after each addition.
4. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. If you can make this dough the day before that is even better!
5. Once chilled, remove the dough from the fridge. Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350º F. Pinch off a large chunk (about grapefruit sized) and pat it into a ball. Using a rolling pin, slowly roll out onto a floured surface (don't be shy with the flour, you don't want your cookies to stick). I roll my dough to about 1/4 inch thick. I like my cookies to be thick and soft in the middle! Cutout fun shapes with your favorite cookie cutters. While you are working with one set of cookies, you can keep the rest of the dough in the fridge to keep it from getting to warm and sticky.
6. Transfer cutout shapes to baking sheet (I like to line mine with a silpat mat. I never have issues with them sticking and they bake up perfectly). Bake at 350º for 8-10 mins or until edges *just* start to brown. Don't overbake or your cookies will be hard. It's better to yield on the side of underbaking than to overbake.
7. Cutout fun shapes with your favorite cookie cutters.
8. Transfer cutouts to baking sheet and bake at 350º for 8-10 mins or until edges just start to brown.
9. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool on your baking sheet for 5 mins. Then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Cool completely before frosting. You can refrigerate any unused dough and it will remain good for a week if sealed tightly in plastic wrap (or in an airtight container).

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer) cream together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
2. Gradually add in powdered sugar (about 1/2 cup at a time) and beat until smooth and creamy. I like my frosting at a medium consistency, a little thicker than when I make it for cupcakes. This frosting is all about getting the consistency YOU like. So add more powdered sugar if the frosting is too smooth, and if you thicken it too much, just add a little milk to thin it back out until you reach your desired consistency.
3. You can refrigerate any unused dough and it will remain good for about two weeks if sealed tightly in plastic wrap (or in an airtight container).

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Sugar Cookie Decorating Ideas

Here are some fun different ways that we have made these cookies for the holidays!

Da-dum! Da-dum! Da-YUM shark cookies for Shark Week!

Christmas cookie trays are a request for every holiday party.

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