Cooking Lesson #130— The Simplest of Sugar Cookies

Simple Sugar Cookies

How you doin’? You have a bunch of hungry teens in the den who are always clamoring for food. It starts to sound like a nest full of baby birds—chirp, Chirp CHIRP. Does this sound familiar? You just got the kitchen cleaned up from the lunch you fed them and now they want more. Cookies you think to yourself… I’ll feed them some cookies!  You check out the cookie jar and it’s empty. You're not in the mood to bake and follow complicated recipes. These sugar cookies are quick and easy to make and all the ingredients for this recipe are in the pantry and fridge—butter, sugar, flour, vanilla extract and citrus zest. In less than 30 minutes you will be serving warm, soft, buttery cookies
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Bake time:  15 to 20 minutes
Yield:  12 cookies
 
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus additional sugar for rolling (optional)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon citrus zest (lemon, lime, or orange)
Sprinkles
 
Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325⁰ F.
2. Place the softened butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or hand mixer). Using the whisk attachment, cream the mixture until it's light and fluffy, about 3 minutes at medium speed.
3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour using a fine-mesh strainer or a flour sifter. Add half the flour to the butter mixture and mix it in before adding the second addition of flour.
4. Add the vanilla extract and citrus zest.
5. Form the cookies into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in sugar.
6. Place the cookie balls on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (If you're using sprinkles, gently flatten the cookies with your palm before adding the sprinkles, lightly pushing them into the dough so they stick).
7. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden. Rotate the sheet pans halfway through the bake.
8. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully removing them to a wire rack. They will be very crumbly when they're warm, so be careful when moving them.
9. If you're planning to ice the sugar cookies, wait until they're cooled before decorating them. Otherwise, you can enjoy the cookies warm.
10. Let the cookies cool completely before storing them in an airtight container. Store them in a single layer with a piece of wax paper in between the layers.
11. These cookies last at room temperature for up to two weeks; in the freezer the cookies for up to six months.

ChefSecret:  To make a firmer, but different cookie, mix in 1 large egg and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.  This is one of those recipes that is easy to double to make sure you have enough cookies for your hungry brood.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  Heard in the home of parents of a millennial under quarantine, “There’s no damn food in this house, just a bunch of ingredients to make food.” 
 
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