Meet Your New Go-To Sugar Cookie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make sugar cookie dough taste better? ›

Almond Extract: For a twist on the traditional sugar cookie flavor, try adding a small amount of almond extract. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust according to your preference. Citrus Zest: Incorporate the zest of citrus fruits like lemon, orange, or lime into the dough. The zest adds a bright and refreshing flavor.

Use my favorite tall cookie trick to reduce excess spreading. Roll your dough balls to be taller rather than wider. This doesn't necessarily mean using more dough per cookie– we'll simply shape the cookie dough ball to be nice and tall, with a firm solid bottom to ensure the cookie doesn't topple over as it bakes.

Mix in tasty ingredients

Take plain sugar cookies up a notch with exciting mix-ins like chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, toasted chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit or M&M's. Add these after blending your butter and egg into the sugar cookie mix. This is our favorite hack for holiday Pillsbury cookie dough.

Try different flavorings in the sugar cookie dough.

If you're making your own sugar cookie dough, try a different extract — like almond, peppermint, or citrus — instead of vanilla for a flavor change.

Add spice to your dough.

You can upgrade your cookie dough by adding spices to it, said Tracy Wilk, lead chef at the Institute of Culinary Education. This can lead to a warm, spicy cookie. To do so, combine ground cinnamon, ginger, and sugar, and then roll your balls of cookie dough in the mix before baking.

Sugar sweetens the cookies and makes them an enticing golden brown. Adding too little sugar can affect the taste and texture of cookies. Adding too much can cause them to be brittle. Take your time creaming the sugar and butter together at the beginning.

Add lemon zest and dried blueberries to the sugar cookie dough for a refreshing lemony treat. To make salted caramel thumbprints, roll the sugar cookie dough into balls, press down in the center to make an indentation, fill the center with caramel and sprinkle the dough with sea salt before baking.

The bottom line: Never reuse a sheet straight from the oven, as its high heat will cause the dough to spread and the cookies to fuse together.

They rise.

The baking soda then reacts to the acidic components present in brown sugar, creating gases that cause the cookie to rise.

Working the dough too much.

And then mixing the dough even more, for no good reason. Thankfully I was eventually steered in the right direction. Over-working the dough yields a tough cookie, which is not at all what you want. The very best sugar cookies are soft and tender.

What can I add to sugar cookie mix that is too dry? ›

To avoid this, try using as little flour as possible while preparing to roll your dough. Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

Sugar cookie dough mix provides many dessert options. You can enjoy your sugar cookies plain, frost them or mix in an ingredient such as peanut butter, nuts or chocolate chips to change the flavor and texture.

Add lemon zest and dried blueberries to the sugar cookie dough for a refreshing lemony treat. To make salted caramel thumbprints, roll the sugar cookie dough into balls, press down in the center to make an indentation, fill the center with caramel and sprinkle the dough with sea salt before baking.

To avoid this, try using as little flour as possible while preparing to roll your dough. Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

Generally speaking, you should chill your cookie dough before baking it. But for how long? You want to give it at least 2 hours to chill through.