Emily Hutchinson
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The Hutch Oven
INSTAGRAM:
@the_hutch_oven
Emily’s MUST-BAKE
“My Classic Sugar Cookies recipe has the perfect balance of sugar and butter for a delicious canvas for piping buttercream. One of my most beloved designs is my Poinsettia Cookies—simple to execute and gorgeous to look at. Adding two-toned petals makes it lifelike and adds a little extra zhuzh to your cookies.”
CLASSIC SUGAR COOKIE PRO TIPS
Adding the salt in with the sugars helps the salt dissolve through the dough better in this recipe. Regular table salt can be used, but make sure to reduce it to ½ teaspoon (3 grams). If you can find salted sweet cream butter, I recommend using that and omitting salt completely because salted sweet cream butter has the perfect amount of salt for these cookies.
I like to add ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) almond extract to my Classic Sugar Cookies recipe sometimes to give the cookies a holiday flavor.
Nice and thick cookies balance out the sweetness of the buttercream, so don’t roll out the dough thinner than ¼ inch.
Aluminum-free baking powder should be double-acting, which means it’s activated in mixing stage and baking stage. Best to keep aluminum out if we can, so I get aluminum-free.
Frosted cookies can be frozen for up to 2 weeks. To freeze them, be gentle and treat them like frosted cupcakes until they crust over. When you pull them out of the freezer, be sure to allow the buttercream to crust back over.
If you cream your butter and sugars together too much, it can lead to slight cracks in the baked cookie; cream as instructed.
CLASSIC SUGAR COOKIES
Makes about 24 cookies (depending on size of cutters used and thickness of dough)
We can’t have the holidays without a delicious, soft sugar cookie. I love the texture of a granulated sugar cookie but I love the taste of an all-confectioners’ sugar cookie, so I married the sugars to make the ideal cookie. I have perfected this recipe over years and years of baking. My family and friends consider it to be the best sugar cookie recipe! Remember to read the recipe directions, Notes, and PRO TIPS before starting.
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
½ cup (60 grams) confectioners’ sugar
¾ teaspoon (2.25 grams) kosher salt
1 large egg (50 grams)
1½ teaspoons (6 grams) vanilla extract
3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons (7.5 grams) baking powder
American Crusting Buttercream (recipe on page 45)
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugars and salt, and beat at medium speed for 1 minute. With mixer on low speed, add egg and vanilla; beat for about 30 seconds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and beat at
