Last week I had some friends over to decorate Christmas cookies. In preparation for this event I decided to find the best sugar cookie recipe that I could. I pulled two classic books- Martha Stewart and Joy of Cooking and then went online to trusty ol’ Allrecipes to find the top-rated recipe. I baked a small batch of each of these recipes and then took them over to my husband’s work. David, several of his co-workers, and the lady at the front desk all ate the cookies and voted which cookie was most to their liking. The end result was a tie between Martha Stewart and Allrecipes. The consensus was that if they were only to eat one cookie that Martha Stewart was the way to go, but if they were going to eat more than one that the Allrecipe recipe would better. I think this was because the Martha Stewart recipe was a bit sweeter than the rest. For those of you also baking this holiday season here is the link to the Allrecipe sugar cookies (they were the one that got my vote. Mostly for the consistency and the not-too-sweet taste)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Rolled-Sugar-Cookies/Detail.aspx?prop31=2
And for you Martha Stewart/sweet cookie lovers here is her sugar cookie recipe:
4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature 3 cups sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 tstp salt 5 cups all-purpose flour
Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, vanilla, and salt; mix until well combined. Add flour in two batches, mixing until just incorporated. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface, divide in half and pat into flattened rectangles. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into shapes with cookie cutters and place on prepared sheets. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. (of note, I found this only took about 12 minutes).
Enjoy!