Gimmie some sugar cookies, I am your neighbour

Now here we are, sitting around the house on another quiet Sunday. The urge has struck so come on kids lets bake.

Sugar cookies are such a good place to start. They are simple, tasty and man can we play around to make them more fun. There are plenty of ways to decorate them, from a simple dusting of sugar to Icing and sprinkles. Today’s recipe is simple, so let’s jump straight in to the good baking.

1 cup butter/margarine

1 cup castor sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla/almond extract

2 teaspoons baking powder

2.75 cups all-purpose flower (or 1.5 cups bread flour and 1.25 cups cake flour)

1 pinch of salt

1 lemon, zested* optional

 

What now???

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 205 degrees Celsius
2. Cream butter and castor sugar together until fully incorporated and butter turns a soft pale-yellow colour
3. Mix the egg and vanilla/almond extract together before mixing into creamed butter.
4. Combine all dry ingredients together on the side then mix into the butter cream mixture until everything is thoroughly incorporated
5. Chill for one hour
6. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to a 1.5 cm thickness
7. Cut into desired shape (lightly sprinkle with regular white sugar, optional)
8. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to brown slightly
9. Allow the cookies to cool completely before attempting to decorate

 

How did I do it tho??

 

Aite though, let’s get into it a bit further. To be completely honest I have fucked this recipe up once or twice and it was completely my fault for not following the recipe or just being absent minded here and there, but yea, it’s so easy man.

 

In this recipe, I chose to use margarine over nutter because it is a perfectly acceptable substitute in this recipe because this cookie does not need the richness of butter, in my opinion. I have found a pretty, nice margarine that can hold its own when baking and is not filled with water. Using margarine in this recipe is also a nice way to save a few coins if you are only just starting baking and butter scares you off a bit, but there is no escaping the purchase of butter soon, so go right ahead and buy a brick of each.

 

 

The lemon is completely optional, but I like to add it into the sugar and butter while creaming to give a subtle flavour difference, especially in the summer time. I still want to try this with Lavender, I’m struggling a bit to find some with no funny stuff in it, but as soon as I do, you will be the first to find out.

I like to let the dough chill for a bit before rolling and baking just so that it holds up a bit better when baking but the good thing about this recipe is that the cookies are good to go immediately. In winter I wouldn’t bother chilling the dough, but our South African summer can get a little crazy where I feel the dough getting too soft, and into the fridge it will go.

 

I decided to pretty them cookies up a bit with some icing and sprinkles. I used approximately two tablespoons of castor sugar five odd drops of colouring and bit by bit added milk to create a nice, drizzilable consistency. If you don’t want to use milk, you can use water or fresh lemon juice, the icing just won’t be as thick. If you aren’t about this vibe and just want something simple, just lightly sprinkle the cut-out cookies with regular sugar and press down lightly.

 

Some people use these to have a fun, edible Christmas decoration by hanging them on the Christmas tree. On my sister’s baby shower, sugar cookies gave a beautiful architectural structure to a simple cake. I just like them because they are tasty.

Go forth