These are the best!!! The first time I tried them was at Christmas. My favorite fellow foodie, Veronica, gifted me with a basket of her homemade goodies and these cookies were by far my absolute favorite!
Don’t let their plainness fool you. They may not look fancy but they are surprisingly tasty and VERY addictive!
The best way to describe them is a dough that’s a cross between a sugar cookie and a shortbread cookie. It has a tender light crumb with a hint of sweetness that melts in your mouth. The combination of vanilla and almond extract gives it a lovely flavor that is utterly irresistible. It’s a lovely alternative to the overly sweet goodies that are everywhere.
My favorite way to enjoy these little bites of yumminess? With a hot steaming cup of coffee.
Start by gathering together the ingredients you need. There aren’t a lot, just a few. The only ingredient you may not have in your pantry is almond extract. I bought a bottle several months ago by accident. I came home from the market and instead of vanilla I had inadvertently grabbed a bottle of almond extract. So I was really happy to finally find a recipe that calls for almond extract. Don’t skip adding it to the dough, it gives these cookies a wonderful unique flavor profile.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, sugar, vanilla and almond exrtact. Beat on high speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The butter will turn lighter in color and increase in volume. Add the eggs.
Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
In another bowl stir together dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well combined.
Cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate dough for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Divide the dough into 3-4 chunks. It’s easier to work with smaller pieces of dough instead of trying to manage the entire ball of the dough all at once.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about a ¼ inch thickness.
Using a cookie cutter cut out shapes and place on prepared cookie sheets about ½ inch apart.
Bake for 5-6 minutes.
Use a spatula to transfer the baked cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.
This is such an easy recipe that produces a really outstanding cookie. Adding some sprinkles before baking them will definitely entice your kids. If you are so inclined these cookies can also be frosted. Check out Kittencalrecipezazz who posted this recipe on the Food.com website. She also includes a recipe for frosting these cookies.
Whether you frost them, top them with colorful sprinkles or leave them plain, be sure to give these a try! You are going to LOVE them.
All is good in the world when you have a plate stacked high with freshly baked cookies to enjoy!
Buttery Shortbread Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- parchment paper or silpat liner
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 3¼ cups flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and almond exrtact.
- Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
- In another bowl stir together dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well combined.
- Cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate dough for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Divide dough into 3-4 chunks. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about a ¼ inch thickness.
- Using a cookie cutter cut out shapes and place on prepared cookie sheets about ½ inch apart.
- Bake for 5-6 minutes.
- Transfer baked cookies onto a wire rack to cool.
Did You Make This?
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