Classic sugar cookies

Classic Sugar Cookie Recipe

No Christmas cookie tray is complete without homemade sugar cookies. Hallmark's Classic Sugar Cookie recipe relies on the basics—eggs, flour, butter and sugar—to form a pliable dough easily shaped into stars, Santas, Christmas trees and other icons of the season. These sugar cookies become the perfect canvas for all kinds of edible holiday designs.

Yield: 4 dozen 2-inch cookies

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Ingredients

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts.
  2. On a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend until it forms a dough. Divide the dough in half, and flatten each half into a disk. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out ⅛ inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Gather the scraps, reroll, and cut more cookies.
  4. Sprinkle the cookies with coarse sugar and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 6 to 10 minutes until golden.