Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Course Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword best-sugar-cookies, sour-cream-sugar-cookies, sugar-cookie-recipes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 8

Cooling time 2

Total Time 2 28

Servings two inch or 24 three inch cookies

Calories 209kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 8 oz container sour cream Not lowfat
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour plus additional for work surface
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp almond or lemon extract
1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract
1/8-1/4 cup light corn syrup plus additional as needed

Instructions

Cookie Dough: Use an electric mixer in a large bowl to cream together butter and sugar over medium-high speed until fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl periodically. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
In a separate medium bowl sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
Lower the speed of the mixer and gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl, as needed. Mix just until the dough has come together.
Form the dough into one large or two medium discs and wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
Bake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Flour a non-stick surface and also a rolling pin. Unwrap dough and roll to about 1/3-1/2 inch thickness. Use a 2 or 3 inch cookie cutter dipped in flour to cut into your favorite shapes. Place onto a baking sheet at least 1 inch apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges become lightly golden. Cool completely on a wire racks before decorating as desired.
Optional Icing: In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/8 cup corn syrup. Stir until sugar has dissolved and icing is completely smooth.
Add extra corn syrup up to 1/4 cup total, in small amounts until you reach the desired consistency.
Decorate cookies as desired, allowing to dry completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature in a single layer.

Notes

This icing will dry shiny but, it doesn't get crunchy like a traditional royal icing.
When mixing your icing, be patient. If you feel the need to add more corn syrup do it slowly in small amounts and stir like crazy!! If you get the icing too thin, your cookies won't store well and they'll become soggy.
If you choose to color this icing, I suggest using gel color because it won't liquefy the mixture quite as much.

Nutrition