Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies (best sugar cookie recipe) (2024)

FAQs

How do you make sugar cookie dough taste better? ›

Almond Extract: For a twist on the traditional sugar cookie flavor, try adding a small amount of almond extract. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust according to your preference. Citrus Zest: Incorporate the zest of citrus fruits like lemon, orange, or lime into the dough. The zest adds a bright and refreshing flavor.

Add extracts

A teaspoon or two of extracts will noticeably boost flavor when blended into your sugar cookie mix. Vanilla is the obvious choice. For a more intriguing flavor, add both vanilla and almond extracts. Rum, maple and anise are other delicious varieties to consider.

→ Follow this tip: Chill sugar cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or in the freezer for 15 minutes. The dough will be so much easier to work with! It will roll out nicely, and if you're making cut-outs, chilled dough will help you get clean, sharp edges.

Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer. Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies.

Sprinkle Rolled Sugar Cookies using Store-Bought Dough

Take a lined baking sheet and dump out sprinkles--a lot of them. Roll your cookie dough log in the sprinkles, slice, and bake as directed. For extra color, you can mix in jell food coloring.

Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

Yes, you can definitely add extra flavorings to store-bought sugar cookie dough to amp up its taste. Some popular options include adding vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon zest, or even spices like cinnamon or nutmeg.

Hack #1: Chill your cookie dough before baking to make it easier to work with and to control spread. How does it work? Cookies can spread when baked and lose their shape. To fix this, let your cookie dough rest in the refrigerator for an hour before you roll it out and cut out shapes.

“Out-of-date baking powder or baking soda will cause your cookies to spread so much that they all bake together,” explains Dawn. Because nothing is helping the cookies puff up, there's nowhere for them to go but out!

What brings out the flavor in cookies? ›

Add more complex proteins, like malted milk powder and brown butter. Caramelizing the sugar beforehand brings bright notes to your cookies, but you can further expand your dessert's flavor profile by playing with proteins.

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars, so along with the caramelizing sugar, proteins in the cookie begin to brown, producing a rich, nutty, toasted flavour. This is the same reaction that occurs in bread and seared steak.

For this technique, you'll want to decorate your cookies before baking. We recommend using decorative sugar (also known as colored sanding sugar), Turbinado sugar (coarse golden sugar) or pearl sugar (coarse clear sugar). It all sounds super fancy but it's really very easy!

Add lemon zest and dried blueberries to the sugar cookie dough for a refreshing lemony treat. To make salted caramel thumbprints, roll the sugar cookie dough into balls, press down in the center to make an indentation, fill the center with caramel and sprinkle the dough with sea salt before baking.

Some premade cookie dough can have a processed, almost chemical-like aftertaste, but you can mask it by adding extra flavor extracts to your dough. You can use a splash of vanilla extract or try other variations, like almond extract or mint extract, to change up the flavors of your cookies.