We are always learning and discovering new things everyday, but the one thing that we get asked is how do you make those cookies, which means apart from decorating them, the cookies have to be a nice too. What's the point of having a beautiful cookie if they don't taste yummy right? :)
When we first started making cookies we tried several sugar cookies recipe and some works well and some not so well. Some cookie dough needs to be refrigerated (chilled) before you can work on them and some doesn't need to. I found that chilling the cookie dough before baking help prevent spreading so if you have issues with spreading we would highly recommend chilling your dough before cutting as well as before putting them into the oven.
Simple Sugar Cookies Makes approximately 2 dozen of cookies
Ingredients:
175 grams icing sugar
225 grams salted butter (room temperature)
1 egg (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or any flavour your prefer)
1 teaspoon baking powder
420 grams all-purpose flour
Instructions:
Cream together butter and icing sugar.
Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.
Sift together flour & baking powder, add to the mixture little by little until well incorporated.
Wait approximately 30 - 60 mins before working with the dough as it will firm up slightly.
Roll the dough between baking paper and put it into the fridge for a few hours this will help prevent spreading. When the dough is a bit firmer, take it out of the fridge and cut into desired shapes (lightly dust with flour if necessary).
Place the cut out cookie dough into a baking tray then put it into the fridge again for another 1-2 hours, this will also help prevent spreading.
Bake cookies at 180° Celsius for approx 10-15 minutes (times may vary slightly depending on your oven). Note: Each oven is different, I would recommend you get to know your oven and adjust the time accordingly.
NOTES: I always let the cookies cool overnight or at least four hours if you have to decorate straight away. I prefer waiting until they are a day old before decorating them to reduce the chance of oil from the cookie leaching into the icing and causing icing spots or butter bleeds.
If you prefer to watch a video on how to make this basic sugar cookies please check out our video tutorial below:
Its a very simple recipe and will only take less than 10 mins to make. Hope this will encourage you to give it a try and have fun making cookies and decorating them :)