This recipe belongs to Alton Brown from the FoodNetwork. It is easy to follow, easy to make, and I am thrilled with the results. I will post his recipe here, and then follow up with decorating tips and ideas.
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
Directions
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.
Everything mentioned here I followed exactly. The only thing I did different was sprinkling surface with flour instead of powdered sugar-this dough can be tough to work with, and I found a needed a bit of flour. If I had used the powdered sugar it would've been a waste of money, and I didn't taste a lack of flavor at all. Its up to you, what you wish to use to cover your work space.
In previous years I frosted with canned frosting or a powdered sugar glaze I made, and of course sprinkled with colored sugars, etc. This year I opted to dip my cookies into melted candy/chocolate wafers! I found Make'n Mold Candy Wafers at my nearby Hobby Lobby.
I chose to heat the wafers in a double boiler type process, meaning bring water to a boil in a pot, then let simmer, place a glass heat resistant bowl over pot, with wafers, and stir wafers with a whisk, the wafers will start to melt right away. I learned that adding vegetable oil a little at a time helps make melted candy less thick, and it does not affect the taste in any way!
I also purchased the dipping tools, which really helped, they don't cost much, and are great to have for dipping all sorts of goodies.
I dipped the sugar cookies into the melted candy/chocolate, some on the points of some cookies, some I completely immersed into the melted candy/chocolate. I set them onto a cookie sheet with wax paper and let this sit in the fridge to get the candy to harden.
I also sprinkled with colored sugars as soon as I dipped, so the sprinkles adhered to the melted candy. Also, I portioned out some of the white chocolate candy, and added food coloring, to either drizzle over the cookies with a fork, or to have it coat the cookie entirely.
Its fun to play with these little options! Also, I dipped pretzels into chocolate, which are yummy and were a hit!
Have fun and enjoy creating your Sugar Cookies!
