Bakery Style Frosted Sugar Cookies

One of the best desserts I've ever eaten has to be those delicious, thick, frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles that you can find at almost any bakery. OMG, I could eat them all day. (In fact, while on vacation I think I almost polished off an entire box by myself. Yikes!) The best thing about these cookies has to be the frosting. It's so buttery-sweet, and with the combination of the soft textured cookie it practically melts in your mouth. And these version I made come pretty close to that same cookie texture and same frosting.



The "real" bakery sugar cookie



My version of the bakery style sugar cookies

Let me be honest here. The dough for these cookies sucked to make! I believe the problem lies in chilling the dough for too short of an amount of time. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say this: You must chill this dough overnight! Otherwise, you'll be cursing me for not telling you this. It's also important to make sure you wait until the cookies have 100% cooled before icing them or else you run the risk of runny icing and trust me, it's an annoyance you don't want to deal with. If you follow my advice, I can guarantee these will be a heck of a lot easier for you to make then they were for me. At the end of the day it comes down to being a patient person, which I've gotta tell you, I'm not. But if you are, I think you'll find you now have a go-to recipe for those wonderful, bakery style sugar cookies that you can enjoy anytime you want!

Bakery style frosted sugar cookies:

Recipe adapted from the brown eyed baker's lofthouse cookies

• 2 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• a dash of salt
• 6 Tbs room temperature butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture while mixing. Form your dough into a large rectangle and flatten it a bit. Store your covered dough in the fridge overnight.

When you are ready to make your cookies, preheat your oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour a cutting board and rolling pin and roll out your dough to about 1/4 of an inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out your cookie shapes (I used the rim of a glass). Place your round cookie cut outs on the parchment paper and bake in the oven for 7-9 minutes, or until the cookies are a light golden on the bottom. Set aside to cool. While you are waiting for cookies to cool, make your frosting.

 For the frosting:

• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tbs heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• a few drop of food coloring (optional)

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and butter until it begins to get fluffy. Add the cream and vanilla extract to moisten the frosting and continue mixing until frosting is the desired consistency. Add the food coloring and mix until desired color appears. When cookies are completely cool, use a butter knife to ice the cookies. Add sprinkles, colored sugar, and anything else fun for decorating. Let frosting harden, then serve and enjoy! (Note: I put my cookies in the fridge to get the frosting to harden a bit more)