Soft and thick sugar cookies coated with sparkling sugar for a little texture.
It has almost been an entire year since I last posted a new recipe! I know, the horror! Turns out I just needed to be forced to stay home for an indefinite period of time to get a new recipe up here. It’s been so long though that I actually had to play around with my camera for a few minutes to remember where all the settings are.
Anyways while it took a year to get here, I’ve got a great recipe for you … like these have been on repeat dessert rotation for the past month in my kitchen. And honestly, sugar cookies have never been my first choice of cookie …. like why bother? There’s no chocolate. I was wrong. Sugar cookies, when made right, are amazing. These are coated with sparkling sugar which gives them a bit of a crunchy, crisp texture on the outside and an extra punch of sugar to remind you why you’re here. But in the middle they’re soft and buttery!
A couple notes on the recipe …
These cookies are super quick to bring together. Throw lots of sugar and butter in the mixer, roll the dough into balls, dunk them in some more sugar, and bake. This recipe is especially awesome because it doesn’t require you to chill the dough.
The salt is important so don’t skimp on it. I’m sometimes tempted to cut the salt a bit in a recipe for fear of it turning out too salty especially since I cheat and bake with salted butter, but the salt works so well in these cookies to balance the sweetness of all the sugar and sparkling sugar. If you’re using unsalted butter instead of salted, add an extra 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
I also learned a trick from Stella Park’s recipe to add a pinch of nutmeg. It’s just enough to bring out the buttery flavor without taking over the flavor of the cookie.
I tried rolling the cookies in both regular granulated sugar and sparkling sugar. I decided that sparkling sugar is definitely the way to go. Sparkling sugar is much coarser than normal sugar and doesn’t melt as easily. This makes it a good choice to roll sugar cookies in because it doesn’t just melt into the dough as it bakes and it keeps some of it’s crunchy, sugary texture. The cookies that I rolled in granulated sugar turned out fine too, but since the sugar melted into the dough it messed with the ratio of sugar to butter and flour and they ended up flattening out and were crispier around the edges. You can find sparkling sugar on the baking aisle at the grocery store with the sprinkles. I like the India Tree brand which is what my grocery store carries and I know Sur la Table carries it too.
Happy baking!
- 1½ cups (280 g) granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
- 1 cup salted butter, slightly softened**
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 2½ cups (320 g) all purpose flour
- ~ ½ cup sparkling sugar
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together.
- With an electric mixer, add the butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium speed. Make sure to scrape down the side of the bowl at least once.
- Add in the vanilla and mix.
- Add in the egg and mix until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl again.
- Slowly spoon in the flour while the mixer is on low speed. Give the sides one last scrape.
- Roll the dough into balls about 1.5 - 2 Tablespoons big.
- Roll each ball in the sparkling sugar until completely coated and place on the baking sheet. I was able to fit 12 on each baking sheet.
- Bake until lightly golden brown on the edges or about 14-15 minutes.
- Leave the cookies on the baking sheet to cool.
- Store in an airtight container.
Adapted from Stella Parks’s Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies on Serious Eats.com