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Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies

Print Recipe
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Total Time 54 minutes
Servings: 24 servings
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla, 1 almond)
  • 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • Optional: 1 teaspoon cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg for a spiced version
  • No leavening. If a recipe for cut-outs includes baking powder, it will spread. This one does not, on purpose.
  • Roll before you chill, not after. Rolling cold dough cracks it; rolling soft dough then chilling the sheet gives you a flat, firm slab to cut from.
  • Chill the cut shapes again. Ten minutes on the tray before baking keeps the butter solid until the cookie sets.
  • Barely color them. A pale cookie holds a sharper edge and a better surface for icing than a golden one.
  • Dough: 3 days chilled, 3 months frozen (as discs or pre-rolled sheets).
  • Baked, undecorated: 1 week airtight; 3 months frozen.
  • Decorated: dry fully, then airtight, 1 to 2 weeks. Layer with parchment.

Equipment

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Baking sheets
  • Hand mixer or stand mixer
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Rolling Pin
  • Cookie cutters
  • Wire cooling rack

Method
 

Step 1
  1. Cream, briefly. Beat the butter and sugar just until combined and smooth, about 1 minute, you do not want to beat in air. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
Step 2
  1. Add the dry. Mix in the flour and salt until it just comes together as a dough. Do not overwork it.
Step 3
  1. Roll, then chill. Divide the dough in two, and roll each piece to 1/4 inch thick between two sheets of parchment. Slide the sheets onto a tray and refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes, until firm.
Step 4
  1. Cut. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Peel off the top parchment, cut shapes, and transfer them to lined trays with a thin spatula. Re-roll scraps once. Chill the cut cookies on the trays for 10 minutes while the oven finishes heating.
Step 5
  1. Bake. 9 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are set and the edges are barely, if at all, colored. Cool completely on the trays.
Step 6
  1. Ice. Whisk the icing ingredients to a smooth paste. For outlining, keep it thick enough to hold a line; thin a portion with a few drops of water for flooding. Outline, let dry 15 minutes, then flood. Let decorated cookies dry fully, 6 to 12 hours, before stacking.