I celebrated a birthday a few days ago. Birthday cake is a must for me on my birthday and my husband made sure we had a delicious one from a local bakery, Moio’s, to enjoy. Candles and a special wish go with the piece of cake and it’s a birthday tradition that I love. In addition to cake, my youngest daughter and her husband bought me a box of perfect macarons including flavors such as peanut butter & jelly and salted caramel. So I have been very happy in the sweets department the last few days!
I didn’t really need more cookies to celebrate my birthday, but my oldest daughter was home from Dallas and she had the wonderful idea of baking sprinkled sugar cookies. I have the perfect sugar cookie recipe so we bought some festive sprinkles and decided to share the recipe!
This cut-out sugar recipe is one I’ve had for years. We baked thousands of cookies with the same recipe, although in larger batches, during the time our online bakery, Country Cupboard Cookies, was baking and shipping cookie gifts. I’ve resized the ingredients and am very happy with the results mixed up in my 5 qt Kitchen Aid mixer. This recipe will yield approximately 20 to 24 sugar cookies depending on the thickness you roll the dough and the size of your cookie cutter.
The sugar cookie dough keeps well in the refrigerator for up to a week, any longer, I’d freeze. If you decide to double this recipe, (it will still fit in your home Kitchen Aid mixer but will be a full bowl) you can save half the dough, roll out slightly, double wrap in saran wrap as above and then chill or freeze until another occasion. It’s best to roll the dough out somewhat before wrapping and chilling so it will thaw much more quickly than a big lump of dough.
If baking the cookies the same day after mixing the ingredients together, I usually chill the dough for 20 minutes or so, just enough time to clean up & make the frosting for the cookies. I used my easy powdered sugar/butter/milk/vanilla frosting with these cookies and added just 4 TBL of cream cheese to make it extra creamy. (Recipe appears below) The cream cheese is optional and you can increase or decrease the amount added. I used a standard biscuit cookie cutter, but any shape will do. For circles, you could just use a drinking glass if you don’t own a scalloped cookie cutter.
After baking the cookies for 10-12 minutes in a 350 degree oven, I let them cool on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes, then removed them to a separate rack to come to room temperature. Make sure your cookies are completely cooled prior to frosting.
We frosted these cookies using an offset knife, then dipped the cookies into a bowl of sprinkles. If the icing is too thin, try chilling for 15 minutes, or adding a bit more powdered sugar. You want a creamy consistency that is soft enough to allow the sprinkles to stick but that does not roll off the cookie when you turn it upside down in the bowl!
Dipping the cookies is easier than trying to drop the sprinkles onto the cookie. And I love the complete coverage you get using this technique.
Cookie sandwiches are easy to make using two sugar cookies and a layer of frosting. I rolled these in the bowl of sprinkles after applying the frosting. Adding the birthday candle was easy to do with applying additional frosting to the top of the cookie sandwich and chilling for a few minutes. And I ended up with TWO birthday wishes this year. ? Cake & Cookies!
- 8 ounces soft butter (1 cup or 2 sticks)
- 7 ounces white granulated sugar (1 cup)
- 1 whole egg
- 2 tsp pure vanilla
- 12 ounces all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached ( 2¾ cups)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 9 ounces powdered sugar (2 cups)
- 3 TBL very soft butter
- 3 TBL milk (adjust for thickness desired of frosting)
- ½ tsp pure vanilla
- 4 TBL soft cream cheese
- SUGAR COOKIES
- Cream softened butter and sugars together until mixed well.
- Add whole egg and vanilla. Beat well.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until soft dough forms.
- Cover bowl and chill for 20 - 30 minutes.
- Roll dough ¼ inch thick with rolling pin, using extra flour as needed.
- Cut out shapes using desired cookie cutter and place on silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet. You can also use a greased pan.
- Bake in 350 degree oven 10-12 minutes. Longer baking times will result in crispier cookies if you prefer.
- Cool on baking sheet for 15 minutes, then allow to cool completely on separate rack.
- Frost with icing and dip into sprinkles.
- ICING
- Mix powdered sugar and 3 TBL soft butter together just briefly. Add milk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add softened cream cheese and beat again. If icing is too thin, add more confectioner's sugar or chill for 15 minutes until thickened and creamy.
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