Sugar Cookies 101
- 2Âľ cups all-purpose flour
- ÂĽ cup cornstarch
- 1 cup sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Decorating Icing
Instructions:
If you want to freeze these, freeze undecorated baked cookies, as the icing won’t hold up well in the freezer.
- Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt to combine. Add the butter and shortening. Using a handheld electric mixer at low speed, move the beaters through the mixture until the butter and shortening are uniformly cut into tiny crumbs and the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, 2 to 3 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, stir the heavy cream mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well to form a soft dough. Gather the dough together and divide into two thick disks. Wrap each disk in plastic. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1½ hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 1 day ahead.)
- To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until malleable enough to roll out without cracking, 5 to 10 minutes. (If the dough has been chilled for longer than 1½ hours, it may take a few more minutes.) Unwrap the dough and place on a floured work surface. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick, or slightly thicker for softer cookies. (A silicone rolling pin works best for this somewhat sticky dough.) As you roll out the dough, it will become easier to work with, and tiny cracks on the surface will smooth out and disappear. Occasionally run a long knife under the dough to make sure it isn’t sticking, and dust more flour under the dough if needed.
- Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and transfer to cookie sheets lined with nonstick baking pads or parchment paper, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.
- Bake, switching the position of the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking, just until the edges of the cookies are barely beginning to turn golden, about 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Decorate as desired with Decorating Icing.