Sitting by the warm fireplace and spending time with family is a tradition many cherish, but Covid-19 and the weather turning cold may alter the holiday traditions to which many are accustomed. With the peak of the virus and many lives of loved ones are being taken away, being home for the holidays is something that many Americans will be experiencing this holiday season. With plans and traditions altered and not seeming like the holidays at all, making some sweet treats may bring some normalcy to this holiday season. Here are the best sugar cookies to make the holiday season a little bit sweeter.
From rolling out the dough, cutting them, then decorating them with icing, these sugar cookies are delicious and will bring some fun into the holidays. These sugar cookies are super easy to make and are super delicious. To make these, you’ll need flour, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt. This recipe yields up to 5 dozen, but you can downsize the proportions to fit your ideal amount. First, you want to grab a hand mixer or a stand mixer so you can cream 1½ cups of softened butter (3 sticks), and 2 cups of white sugar until smooth. Once smooth, beat in your eggs one at a time (4 eggs total) and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once eggs and vanilla are in and the batter is smooth, gradually add in your 5 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Once a dough forms, place the dough in a bowl, cover it and chill for at least an hour to get the best results.
Once the dough is chilled and ready to roll, preheat your oven to 400 degrees so it can heat up while you’re preparing the cookies. Find a clean space on your counter, add a little bit of flour to the surface and place the dough onto the surface. Find a rolling pin or even a large round cup and begin to roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick. Then find some cookie cutters or even a cup (if you would just like round cookies) and cut them out. Be careful with this part, you don’t want to tear the cookies. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet about an inch apart and bake 6 to 8 minutes.
Once the cookies start to brown on the edge, your cookies are done. Take them out of the oven and place on a cooling sheet. While they are cooling, you can start to make the colorful icing to decorate on top. For the icing you’ll need powdered sugar, milk, light corn syrup, vanilla extract and food coloring (if wanting to make your icing colorful). To make the icing, combine 3 cups powdered sugar, about 3 tablespoons of milk, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to a bowl and mix until icing forms. If icing seems to thin, add little bits of powdered sugar until icing is thick enough to pipe. If icing is too thick, do the same with the milk: add a little bit at a time until it’s at the right consistency. You can separate the icing into smaller bowls and mix food coloring in each to have a variety of different colors from which to choose.
Once cookies are cooled and the icing is ready, you can use a piping bag you have purchased, or you can simply use small plastic baggies and cut the tips off to make a homemade piping bag. You can decorate the cookies however you like; it is your creative freedom! I hope you consider making these easy and fun sugar cookies to make the holiday cheer a bit brighter!
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