Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER!

What's Christmas without a good sugar rolled out cookie with lots of frosting & sprinkles? I know these are Santa's favorite cookie, because, well, just look at them? It's his face right there!

Growing up, sugar cookies, while fun, were never my favorite. They were either too difficult, too sweet, too hard (I'm not a huge fan of crispy cookies), too messy, too something. But when we were first married, Rocky asked me to make HIS favorite Christmas treat: the Santa Cookies his mom used to make. So, along with trying other Christmas treats (like caramels), I looked for a new sugar cookie recipe and found one while watching "Good Eats." This recipe is, by far, the best sugar cookie recipe I have ever tried. The cookies aren't too sweet, too crispy (as long as you take them out in time) and are always a hit!



3 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter -- I prefer to have the butter at room temp and not softened/melty

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 T milk

Sift dry ingredients together. Put butter in large bowl for your stand mixer and beat until smooth. Add sugar and beat together until light yellow. Add egg and milk and beat to combine/until light and fluffy. Put mixer on low and slowly add the flour mix [and don't let your 3 year old dump the whole thing in before your 8 year old turns the mixer down]. Mix until mixture comes together [patience!]. Divide the dough in half and refrigerate for 2 hours [I usually wrap in wax paper or cling wrap].

Preheat oven to 375. When dough is chilled, roll out to 1/4 inch thick [I do this for my girls, much to Maggie's consternation!]. Cut into desired shapes and place on greased/parchment covered/silicone baking mat covered cookie sheet. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, until edges start to brown, rotating sheet 1/2 way through baking. Let cookies sit on sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and cool before frosting.

The Santa cookies are simply 2 round cookies. One is his face, the second has 2 sides cut to make the hat & mustache. This year, I just used chocolate chips, but I have used red hots for the nose in the past (husband and kids don't like that part. These cookies freeze well. I don't know how long they would last as they never seem to last more than a few days at our house. I will typically mix up 2 batches and keep a 2nd batch for making more cookies later.