Daria’s Best-Ever Sugar Cookies

Name: Daria's Best-Ever Sugar Cookies
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: about 13-1/2 dozen.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup almond paste; 4 large egg yolks; 2 cups butter, softened; 1-3/4 cups sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour; FROSTING:; 3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar; 3 tablespoons meringue powder; 1/3 cup water; Food coloring, coarse sugar and assorted sprinkles, optional

After years of searching for the best sugar cookie recipe, believe me, this is it! Almond paste gives a hint of great flavor to these moist cookies with a subtle crunch. —Daria Burcar, Rochester, Michigan

Ingredients

1/2 cup almond paste
4 large egg yolks
2 cups butter, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
FROSTING:
3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
1/3 cup water
Food coloring, coarse sugar and assorted sprinkles, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, beat almond paste and egg yolks until crumbly. Add butter, sugar and salt; beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour and mix well. Divide into four portions; shape each into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1-2 hours or until easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake 6-8 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
For frosting, beat confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and water until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Color frosting if desired. Frost cookies; decorate with coarse sugar and sprinkles if desired. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

Editor's Note

Meringue powder is available from Wilton Industries. Call 800-794-5866 or visit wilton.com.

Nutrition Facts

1 each: 55 calories, 3g fat (1g saturated fat), 11mg cholesterol, 25mg sodium, 7g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 starch.

Originally published as Best Ever Sugar Cookies in Taste of Home October/November 2010

Reviews

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Average Rating:

Katyjane

Dec 3, 2014

Everyone says their sugar cookies are the "Best Ever", however, this one is it for me. I've made sugar cookies every Christmas but this is the one I keep going back to. The flavor is delicate and the dough really stands up to rolling and cutting shapes - easy to work with. I get many compliments with this one!
HollyLofthouse

Aug 19, 2013

We loved these sugar cookies! Turned out so good!
muranle

Dec 22, 2012

I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper. Cookies do not stick to the paper. And, it makes it so easy to transfer hot cookies to a cooling rack. My cookies do not burn when I bake them on parchment paper.
michiana

Dec 24, 2011

Great flavor for this cookie! I would suggest working with the dough quickly since it gets sticky as it warms. Use cookie cutters that don't have intricate parts since the dough can get stuck in them. I used basic shapes like trees, snow flakes and stars.
htrey867

Dec 22, 2011

These are just awesome. The taste is something you just cant get with almond extract. Few ingedients and super easy. You do need to leave them on the pan for 2 minutes. It will help with the falling apart.
ilovetocooktoo

Jan 4, 2011

This was the best sugar cookie recipe! I followed the recipe and they came out perfect. I rolled to 1/4" and didn't over cook so they where nice and soft with slight crunch.I received many compliments and requests for this recipe ( I referred them to the Taste of Home website). This is the recipe I will reach for when I have to make cut out cookies for the holidays.
dittus

Dec 30, 2010

My only deviation was to add slightly more almond paste because the recipe said to beat paste & yolks "until crumbly" - it was liquidy and never did get to "crumbly" at that step. Chilled dough was very firm but rolled nicely and was really easy to handle (didn't stick to table & rolling pin). But the baked cookies were so fragile that just picking them up caused them to break. I never did frost them, for that reason. Delicious, but broken cookies don't make a nice presentation.
Danipooh02

Nov 27, 2010

These were so easy to put together and roll out. Perfect consistency. The taste is out-of-this-world! The best I have ever had. They are light and flaky and so DELICIOUS! I recommend everyone to try these.