Gram’s Classic Sugar Cookies with Icing

Gram's Classic Sugar Cookies with Icing

Recipe provided by Tina Verrelli

These are my favorite sugar cookies! They are buttery, soft, and have great vanilla flavor. Grandma Appolonia always added a little white icing to the top of them.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 48 cookies

Ingredients

  • 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (plus extra for greasing pan and glass)
  • 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar (plus extra for flattening cookies)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. This will take several minutes – it should be fluffy and lighter in color. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined.

Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place the balls 2-inches apart on greased baking sheets. (I use the shiny half-sheet pans.)

Butter the bottom of a flat-bottomed drinking glass. Spread some sugar on a small plate. Dip the buttered glass in the sugar and use to press down on the cookie balls. Hold the glass level and press until the cookie is a little thicker than a 1/4-inch. Repeat until all the balls are flattened.

Bake the cookies for 7-12 minutes or until just golden around the edges. Time may vary depending on oven.

Let cool on baking sheet 1-minute before removing to cooling rack.

Icing

  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp milk

Icing

In large bowl, beat together butter, vanilla, 3 cups of confectioners' sugar and 1/4 cup milk. Gradually add more sugar and milk until you reach desired consistency.

If you want to ice the cookies by hand, make a little thicker like peanut butter.

If you want to pipe the icing on the cookies, make a little thinner like ketchup. (I used the exact measurements for the icing I piped on my cookies.)

Cook's Notes

Cookie Baking Tips

I use shiny metal cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

If you use darker colored cookie sheets, you may want to drop your oven temperature by 25 degrees. Darker baking pans get hotter.

Cookie scoops are handy for portioning the cookie dough for even cookies. You can even weigh the cookie dough balls with a kitchen scale.

For 3 1/2-inch diameter cookies, I made each dough ball 1-1/2 ounces and flattened them to about a 3-inch diameter. (1 batch made 2 1/2 dozen cookies.)

I bake my cookies one tray at a time and make sure the cookie sheet is cool each time. It’s helpful to have several cookie sheets you can rotate.

To Make Cutout Sugar Cookies

After mixing the dough, divide into 3-4 portions, form each into a disc shape, wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thickness or a little less, cut with cookie cutters and place on parchment lined baking sheets.

If dough has gotten very warm – refrigerate to firm up before baking – this helps the cookies keep their shape better.

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