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You want a cookie that holds its shape, looks pretty but also tastes awesome. I hear you. These No-Fail Sugar Cookies are exactly what you've been looking for. They're ideal for decorating and so hard to stop eating. Let's do it.
I haven't been shy about talking about my personal life on this blog. In fact, I make a point of it, even though apparently Google's not down with that. It's an important part of my creative expression, so Google will just have to deal. But I also know full well that a lot of people don't actually read any of the content and just skip to the recipe. That's cool. Do what you gotta do.
But with the podcast, suddenly listening to my stories and opinions is the whole point. It's a much more intimate format, and even though I haven't gotten any negative feedback yet, I do sometimes worry what people will think. I've always been pretty open about my exploration of witchcraft, but speaking about it on the podcast makes it very public. I guess the only solution is to dig in even deeper and just be myself. If you like it, cool. If not, that's cool, too.
What makes No-Fail Sugar Cookies so awesome?
So I made my No-Fail Sugar Cookies with a decidedly witchy theme. I've got moon and star shapes with a very simple marble effect icing. A little nod to the triple goddess and the celestial powers. It's fine because these cookies are so good, the spirits will definitely be happy to gobble them up. So will you and your friends and family.
Don't be scared when you look at the method and see how long it looks. We want to make sure your totally delicious, soft and buttery sugar cookies come out looking like the shapes you intended, so there's just a lot of chilling that has to happen to ensure that. I brought these cookies to a family barbecue, and they were a huge hit. People are always so surprised that something that looks so plain can be so tasty.
How to make No-Fail Sugar Cookies
We start by making a basic cookie dough. You know, butter, sugar, eggs, flavorings (in this case vanilla and the tiniest bit of lemon extract). Beat that all together, then add flour and salt. There's no leavener in this recipe because we don't want the cookies to puff or spread. Once your dough is mixed, it needs to go in the fridge for at least 45 minutes. You could do this the night before if that's easier.
Use rolling pin bands to roll your dough out into an even layer between a quarter and a half inch thick. You may need to work with your dough in batches. I also like to do this between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid sticking. Once you've got a section rolled out, transfer it to a baking sheet or something else flat, and put it back in the fridge. Then you can cut out your shapes and chill again, this time, in the freezer. Only then will you bake your cookies. If you like a crisper cookie, go for a slightly longer bake.
Then once they're cooled completely, you can decorate them as simply or as elaborately as you like. You should have nice neat shapes to work with. And even without icing, these are killer.
FAQ
If you want clean shapes without spreading, yes. I used this method to bake sugar cookies when I lived in Hawaii with no air conditioning, so it will definitely work. If you take less time with chilling, just know you risk losing your clean edges.
It's really simple. Add some powdered sugar, aka icing sugar, to a bowl, and whisk in some water or milk until you just reach a drippy consistency. You don't want it to flow, so add the liquid slowly. Then get some food coloring and a toothpick. Add a few drops of food coloring to your icing, and gently swirl it. Then just dip your cookies straight in and straight back out, and you should see the marbling on the cookies.
Make it magical
We've already covered pretty much all the ingredients in this recipe on the Kitchen Magick page, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to discuss using symbols and sigils in kitchen witchcraft. It doesn't just have to be about the ingredients. You can also stir in powerful symbols while cooking or carve a sigil into your pastry or even in your peanut butter on your toast. Or cut out cookies to invoke a meaningful shape, like the triple goddess below.
If you're in the broom closet, carve a sigil in a bottom pie crust before baking. No one will ever know. Just consider your own ethics regarding practicing magic on others without their knowledge. What are some of your favorite ways to use symbols and sigils in witchcraft? Let me know in the comments.
We should all express ourselves a little more freely. And we should all eat more sugar cookies. It doesn't get more awesome than that.
Looking for more awesome cookie recipes? Try these Classic Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies or some these White Chocolate Cranberry Macadamia Nut Cookies.
PrintNo-Fail Sugar Cookies
You want a cookie that holds its shape, looks pretty but also tastes awesome. I hear you. These No-Fail Sugar Cookies are exactly what you've been looking for. They're ideal for decorating and so hard to stop eating.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 120
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1-½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
- Sift flour and salt together into a small mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar on medium high for about five minutes. Your butter mixture will become very pale and fluffy.
- Add in the egg and beat until combined.
- Turn your mixer as low as it will go and slowly add the flour, mixing until thoroughly combined. Mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts and crank your mixer up to medium for about 10 seconds to make sure everything is well blended.
- Carefully dump your dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap and press it together into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk, cover completely and put the dough into the fridge for at least 45 minutes.
- Clear a space in your kitchen to roll out your dough. Unwrap your chilled dough and place it on a sheet of parchment, then put another sheet of parchment on top. Roll your dough to between ¼ and ½ inch thick. Some rolling pin bands are a greath tool here to make sure your dough is an even thickness throughout. Slide something stiff under your rolled out dough, and transport it back to the refrigerator to chill for another 15 minutes. You may need to roll your dough in a few batches.
- Preheat your oven to 325 F (160F).
- Remove your rolled dough from the fridge, cut the shapes you want, place the cut dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, and then put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Bake your cookies for 12 to 15 minutes. They'll still be quite pale, but you want them to set enough that they won't crumble when you try to frost them.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for another 10 minutes, then remove them to wire racks to cool completely before decorating. Or not. They're totally awesome eaten plain.
Recipe slightly adapted from Sweetapolita.
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and a comment. I love seeing how you got on. Thanks so much!
Jenifer says
Getting ready for Yule and the Holidays. My grands love decorating cookies so this year I made these no fail sugar cookies. The dough is easy to handle and rolls out well. I followed the chilling instructions and the shapes turned out perfectly. The taste great, I’ll definitely be making these every year!
Thanks!
Tiffany B says
I'd never made cookies before . I tried this recipe and the dough came out horrible. It would not stick together. I've still never made cookies before because the dough went in the trash. I don't know what happened.
Renee says
I'm so sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe. If you tell me a little bit more about what you did, I might be able to tell you where you went wrong. I've never heard of anyone having any issues with this recipe before, so I'd be happy to trouble shoot it for you. It's definitely not a problem with the recipe, so maybe since you're new to baking, there's somewhere where my instructions weren't clear enough.
Louise says
As someone who had never made sugar cookies before, I found this recipe very straightforward and the cookies turned out great!
Renee says
If you follow the instructions, it works every time.