Every holiday celebration I have attended lately has featured beautifully decorated sugar cookies. They are so gorgeously nestled in delightful arrangements on platters, seemingly replacing the need for an elaborate display on the dessert table.

As beautiful as they appear, their tastes have run the full range of being either the most horrible cookie of my life to one of respectable stature. None of them had that WOW factor. So, I sought out the perfect sugar cookie recipe. It is one of my favorites! They also make the perfect frosting cookie, so there is no need to bust out the extra pine cones or fake pumpkins just yet.

The recipe creates a wonderfully crisp exterior that is superb for decorating, but it also has this deliciously chewy interior that is hard to deny. The addition of cream cheese to the recipe is the trick. They will impress even the biggest skeptic. A holiday classic hit!

Classic Sugar Cookie

14 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
2 tbsp Cream Cheese
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
3 Egg Yolks (Save the whites for another recipe!)
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Paste
2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Procedure:
1.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Whip on medium-high until light and fluffy.
2.Add the egg yolks one at a time, fully incorporate the eggs before adding the next.
3.Sift the remaining dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
4.Low the speed on the mixer to its lowest setting, mix in the vanilla paste.
5.Pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture by thirds.
6.Turn the dough out on a floured surface once the last third is fully incorporated into the batter.
7.Separate into 4 discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

From this point you may do whatever you like with this dough! It makes a great base for many desserts, and it is banging on its own. My gift to you!

8.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
9.Allow the dough to come to just above room temperature, this will make it easier to work.
10.Roll out on a surface dusted with flour and granulated sugar. This mixture of flour and sugar keeps the cookies from becoming too floury, and it creates a light crackle on the exterior.
11.Cut the desired shapes out or roll into a log and slice. Place the cut-outs onto a nonstick cookie sheet.
12.Bake the cookies for 8 minutes, rotate the pan halfway through the baking time.
13.Remove the pan from the oven and place the cookies onto a cooling rack.

You may decorate these little guys with your own little ones and create a holiday tradition with your family. You may make the recipe that follows this one, which uses this recipes as its base and mimics a Starbucks holiday phenomenon. White-Chocolate Cranberry Bars. Deliciousness awaits the noble baker!.

Classic Sugar Cookie Recipe Card