A good sugar cookie can show up for any occasion. They can be decorated in your wedding colors for your bridal shower. Or make the holidays shine with red and green and gold! Their versatility and soft melt in your mouth flavor make sugar cookies with buttercream frosting perfection. But to me a sugar cookie should meet a few criteria to be a favorite. That’s why I wanted to share my Soft Holiday Almond Cookie Recipe!
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Soft Holiday Almond Sugar Cookie Recipe
If you are looking for a sugar cookie that you can make cut-out cookies, but is still soft, then you will love my Soft Holiday Almond Cookie Recipe. These sugar cookies are perfect to making holiday memories at home.
This almond sugar cookie dough is easy to work with as it rolls out well. The cookies don’t hold there shape as sharply as some sugar cookie dough. But I love that the cookies are very soft! And with the vanilla and almond flavoring, your cookies will become a family favorite!
Looking for other holiday treats? Try this White Fruit Cake bread!
Sugar Cookie Holiday Tradition
Since my kids were little, I have always made sugar cookies during the holidays. I love the smell of the warm sugar cookies baking in the oven. And my daughter would always get so excited to pull out all the cookie cutters as we carefully cut out cookies. We would typically have a few new cookie cutters to try out each winter.
After the baked cut-out sugar cookies were cooling on the trays, I would make up a big batch up buttercream frosting. All the sprinkles would get pulled out and the kids and I would set to making cookie magic.
Last year, for our immediate family’s Christmas celebration, I had a fresh batch of sugar cookies ready to be frosted as our grandson was going to be joining us. But then illness hit. So our grandson could not join us. But our teen daughter and adult son jumped in to help frost the cookies. It was a sweet time, reminding me of all the years spent in the kitchen decorating Christmas sugar cookies.
How to Make Soft Almond Sugar Cookie Recipe
Blend the softened butter with the shortening and sugar. Mix. Scrape down the side of the mixer. And then mix again.
Add eggs, corn syrup, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix.
IIn a separate bowl, blend flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Gradually add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture. Mix just until flour is blended in.
Remove sugar cookie dough from the mixing bowl and portion out into two equal portions. Place on a sheet of clear wrap and wrap completely.
Place mixed sugar cookie dough in the fridge to chill for at least an hour or overnight.
When ready to use your sugar cookie dough, clean and flour your rolling surface or use parchment paper. Roll out cookie dough to 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut out shapes!
Transfer shapes to cookie tray and bake in preheated oven for 6-7 minutes. This mini spatula REALLY comes in handy for transferring cut-out cookies. Keep a close eye . You want the edges to just be turning golden. Remove tray from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Then place cookies on cooling tray.
Frost cookies when completely cooled. Have fun adding adorable sprinkles like these or these!
Why This Sugar Cookie Recipe Is The Best
- Soft Cookies. Soft cookies that melt in your mouth. These cookies are so good with frosting or with just sprinkles.
- Almond Flavor. The almond flavoring in the cookies make these cookies really stand out! They have such a great flavor.
- Dough Consistency. The sugar cookie dough is very manageable! I love that these roll out very well and only need to be chilled for an hour.
- Butter and Shortening Blend. Soft Almond Sugar Cookies have a perfect blend of shortening and butter for a rich buttery taste!
- Versatile for Any Occasion! These cookies are perfect for any occasion! You can make the frosting different colors and add special sprinkles to match the theme for your event.
- Make-Ahead Sugar Cookie Recipe. You can make your cookie dough or cookies several days ahead. Simply mix up cookie dough and wrap carefully with clear wrap. If you want to wait several days, you can place your wrapped cookie dough and place in a sealable plastic bag, then put in fridge. Or you can mix and cut out cookies. Then freeze unfrosted cookies in a sealable gallon bag in the freezer until you are ready to frost!
Tips for Easy Sugar Cookies
- Spread Out the Work. Homemade sugar cookies can be a bit more work than say, chocolate chip cookie. So I have learned to break up the tasks. I will typically make up a batch of my soft almond cookie recipe a day or two before I want to roll them out and bake them. Or I will make dough and roll out cookies one day and frost them another day. This helps keep the fun in making homemade sugar cookies.
- Carefully Portion Out Flour. Scoop flour into measuring cup and then use a knife to level off the top. With sugar cookies, you want to carefully portion out flour. If you pack down your flour when measuring, your dough may end up overly dry and your cookies bland and hard!
- Roll Out Dough to 1/4 to 1/2 Inch. If you roll out dough too thin, just roll it back up and try again. There is nothing more frustrating than working with overly thin cookie dough. It is hard to transfer cookies to cookie tray. But don’t make cookies too thick. While I like a thicker cookie, this dough is soft and if dough is too thick than cookies will lose their shape in the oven.
- Don’t Overly Mix Dough. Once you add the flour mixture, just mix dough til blended. But don’t overly mix dough or keep adding flour. Dough will be slightly sticky but thick. Once you chill it for an hour, it should be able to be rolled easily but no longer sticky. Add flour to your surface and rolling pin. And sprinkle flour on dough as needed.
Soft Holiday Almond Sugar Cookies
Enjoy making lot of memories while cutting out and frosting these delicious soft almond sugar cookies! They are a perfect reason to use all those adorable holiday themed sprinkles! And several decorated sugar cookies on a pretty paper plate make a much appreciated homemade gift!
Soft Holiday Almond Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- baking sheet
- cookie cutters
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup shortening I like Crisco butter flavored shortening
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for rolling dough)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or flavoring
- 2 tsp almond extract
Instructions
- Combine butter, shortening, and sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Beat for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl. Mix again
- Add eggs, corn syrup, vanilla, and almond. Mix
- In a separate bowl , add flour, boking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Gradually add in flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture. Mix until blended but don't over blend.
- Split dough into two portion. Wrap in clear wrap and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.
- When ready to roll out dough, clean and flour your surface or use parchment paper.
- Heat oven to 370 F
- Roll dough to between 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
- Cut-out cookies. And place on baking sheet. Cook for 6-7 minutes.
- Cookies should be barely browned around the edges. Cool for 1-2 minutes, before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Frost and decorate!
- Store cookies in a air tight container or in a resealable plastic bag.
