Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

It snowed yesterday. It was lovely. 🙂

We are supposed to get more which I’m excited about, except that I have to drive in it this weekend because I’m going to Alt, and to IKEA. Could it be better?

To celebrate getting snow this week, I thought it would be fitting to re-post my sugar cookie recipe from Amy’s 25 days of Cookies. We make them for Valentine’s Day every year as well. They are, in my opinion, the perfect sugar cookie.

Enjoy!

Hello! I am Delia and I blog over at Delia Creates. I am so happy to be here for Amy’s 25 days of Cookies.

Today, I’m going to share with you my all time favorite sugar cookie recipe. It was passed down to me from my mother and because of one fairly unique ingredient we call them…

Not sour cream tasting at all.They are irresistibly soft and chewy. If you claim to already have a sugar cookie recipe, just give this one a try…you won’t regret it. 🙂

Ingredients:

Wet:

1 c. shortening {you can use butter but shortening produces a softer, chewier cookie}
2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. sour cream – I like to use full fat
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Dry:
5 c. all-purpose flour, plus 1-2 c. of flour for rolling cookies out
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

– Preheat your oven to  375 and prepare your cookie sheets with a light mist of spray oil.
We live at a high altitude – above 4500 ft. – so I bake them at about 365.
– Beat your wet ingredients together.
– Sift or whisk your dry ingredients together.

– Mix your dry and wet mixes together to get a nice thick dough.

– Flour your counter and rolling pin. Don’t be shy with the flour. This dough is quite sticky. But also be careful not to add too much flour or the cookies will taste floury and they will crack easily.

– Take a big chunk of dough and roll it out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.

– Cut and place on the baking sheets.

– Bake for 10-15 minutes…until the top starts to look baked and oh so slightly browned.

For reasons I am not really sure of the cookies bake the best when baked with two sheets at a time. Maybe it’s the heat reflecting off the other pan….not sure. But for BEST results, cook two cookie sheets at a time.

– Let it cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

– Then let the frosting begin!

This cookie frosting/glaze is from the America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook:

3 TBSP. whole milk {I used half and half}
1 TBSP. softened cream cheese
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Mix 2 TBSP. milk and cream cheese together until smooth. Add sugar. Add remaining milk as needed.

I made a triple batch {which was too much}. Some was spooned into a freezer quart sized bag for piping…

And the rest got dyed so my boys could have more fun decorating.

I really like this glaze/icing. It’s not too rich and it dries so the cookies won’t stick together.

MMMMmmm. But truth be told? I love these cookies un-frosted even more. They are perfectly sweet – not too sugary….just right.