Sugar cookies are a delicious and traditional treat popular with kids and adults alike. These simple and delicious cookies are especially festive around the holiday season and are fun to decorate.
Kids will especially enjoy festoning these tasty cookies with colorful sprinkles or frosting for a fun family holiday activity. Kids will also enjoy cutting out festive shapes using holiday themed cookie cutters around the holiday season.
This melt-in-your-mouth recipe for traditional, homemade sugar cookies contains few ingredients and is easy to assemble with items already in your kitchen. This tasty and simple sugar cookie recipe also has a slight touch of cardamom, cinnamon, and vanilla for a more flavorful cookie.
Makes:
- About 2 dozen cookies
Preparation Time:
- 30 to 40 Minutes
Cooking Time:
- 8 to 10 minutes per batch
Cooking Supplies Needed:
- Baking sheet, ungreased
- Mixing spoon
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Large mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Wax paper, optional
- Cookie cutters
- Cooling rack
- Metal spatula
Ingredients Needed for Tasty and Simple Sugar Cookies:
- 2/3 cup vegetable shortening
- ¾ cup white, granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon whipping cream or milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
How to Make Easy and Traditional Sugar Cookie
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cream together in large mixing bowl vegetable shortening, sugar, egg, cream or milk, and vanilla extract until thoroughly mixed with an electric mixer.
- Add dry ingredients to mixed wet ingredients. Stir thoroughly. Mixture should be crumbly.
- If necessary, chill sugar cookie dough for around 20 minutes, or until easy to handle.
- Lightly flour surface to roll sugar cookie dough on. For easier clean up, consider using wax paper to roll out cookie dough. Roll dough about 1/8 of an inch thick.
- Place sugar cookie cutouts evenly spaced on ungreased cookie sheet.
- Cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before using metal spatula to place cookies on cooling rack. Makes about 2 dozen cookies, depending on cookie cutout sizes.
Decorating Ideas for Simple and Popular Homemade Sugar Cookies
There are a variety of creative and fun ways to decorate sugar cookies. These delicious and traditional cutout sugar cookies can be festooned with a simple icing, sprinkles, or melted chocolate thinly spread. For a simple decorating option, consider sprinkling a mixture of sugar and cinnamon on top of the sugar cookies prior to baking. If decorating with frosting, allow sugar cookies to cool completely before decorating.
Baking cookies can be a fun family activity and is especially popular with children.
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