Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipes

VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl each time, then add vanilla.
• Add flour mixture and mix at low speed until dough just comes together.
• Knead a couple of times just until smooth, then pat into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill until firm enough to roll.
• Roll and cut as desired and place on parchment-lined sheets.
• Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

VANILLA SUGAR COOKIE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
• Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat until the dough just comes together, being careful not to over mix.
• Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Place the ball of dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4 inch think. Keeping the dough in the parchment, transfer to a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
• Cut out the cookies in the desired shapes and places on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper or an ungreased nonstick cookie sheet, at least 1 inch apart. Transfer to the freezer and chill for at least 15 minutes or until they are stiff.
• Bake until the cookies are light golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Let cookies cool completely on the sheets before decorating. (They will still be soft when they come out of the oven and may break or become misshapen if they are moved off the sheets before cool.) Makes about 12 3-inch cookies.

VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat sugars and vanilla seeds with a mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Add butter; beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; beat until well combined.
• Using a 2-inch ice cream scoop (3 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing2 inches apart (no more than 4 cookies per sheet).
• Flatten cookies slightly using the palm of your hand; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Lightly brush tops of cookies with water using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with sanding sugar again.
• Bake until light golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks, and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely.

VANILLA-BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. , For frosting, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla and enough milk to reach desired consistency. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring. Cut a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag or in a corner of a food-safe plastic bag; transfer frosting to bag. Pipe decorations. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Freeze option: Freeze undecorated cookies, layered between waxed paper, in freezer containers. To use, thaw and decorate as desired.

VANILLA SUGAR

Steps:

• Pour the sugar into an airtight container. If the vanilla bean is whole, slice it halfway through the long way, open up the bean, and use a spoon or kitchen knife to scrape out the black gooey specks. Stir the specks into the sugar, and bury the bean pod in the sugar. Cover the jar and let stand for at least 1 week.

LEMON VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Put the butter, granulated sugar, confectioners' sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches and mix until just combined.
• Scoop the dough with a 2-ounce cookie scoop, filling it fully with the dough. Then shape it into a straight-sided patty (like a hockey puck) that is 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Put the formed cookie on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat to make 7 to 8 more cookies and making sure there is at least 1 inch of space around each cookie on the baking sheet.
• Bake until the cookies have spread out and flattened by about half and the bottoms are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through the cooking time. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
• Flip your cookies upside down so the flattest side is up. Use the yellow icing to make a thin line around the edge of each cookie. Then make 2 loops around the interior of the yellow border with the white icing and use a toothpick to fill in any gaps between the two colors. Fill in the middle space with the yellow icing and then make a circle with the white directly in the center. Immediately use a scribe or toothpick to lightly drag from the edge of the cookie to the middle to create the segments of your lemon. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
• Let the icing dry and crust over or serve immediately.

MOTHER'S VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream together butter, shortening, sugars and vanilla, using low speed of electric mixer.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time.
• Sift together dry ingredients and beat in slowly.
• Divide mixture into at least four parts and wrap each in waxed paper.
• Chill till firm.
• Working with one part of dough at a time, roll out on lightly floured board, no thinner than 1/8th inch.
• cut shapes and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Bake cookies in preheated oven about 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on racks.
• If desired, frost or ice with Ornamental Frosting.
• Makes about 8 dozen cookies.