Chocolate Sugar Cookies | Recipe by Leigh Anne Wilkes (2024)

FAQs

How old is the sugar cookie? ›

History. Sugar cookies have a plain flavor and have been made for centuries. The popularity and availability of sugar cookies rose when sugar became widely available. The sugar cookie is believed to have originated in the mid-1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Take plain sugar cookies up a notch with exciting mix-ins like chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, toasted chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit or M&M's. Add these after blending your butter and egg into the sugar cookie mix.

Place a piece of bubble wrap in the box, followed by a piece of tissue paper. Layer the cookies in the box, 4 cookies per layer, with bubble wrap and tissue paper in between each layer. I pack as many as 16 cookies in an 8x8x5" box. Place a piece of bubble wrap on top and close the lid.

Sugar Cookie Mix Hacks

Easy Add-In: After creating the dough according to the sugar cookie mix instructions, Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream to create a tangier, cakier and all-around more flavorful cookie.

Whatever the reason, Cookie is the dream name for your sweet bundle of joy. This adorable gender-neutral name has Latin, English, Dutch, and modern roots, all revolving around cooking and baking.

From 1808, the word "cookie" is attested "...in the sense of "small, flat, sweet cake" in American English. The American use is derived from Dutch koekje "little cake", which is a diminutive of "koek" ("cake"), which came from the Middle Dutch word "koke".

Sugar cookie dough mix provides many dessert options. You can enjoy your sugar cookies plain, frost them or mix in an ingredient such as peanut butter, nuts or chocolate chips to change the flavor and texture.

The very best sugar cookies are soft and tender. → Follow this tip: One of the keys to great sugar cookies is mixing the dry ingredients only until they're just incorporated, and not a second longer. Once the dry ingredients are added, less mixing equals more tender cookies.

Using too much flour will make your cookies too cakey, so try reducing the flour amount by two tablespoons. Avoid using cake flour instead; try a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour for a more dense and chewy texture. Using too much baking powder. According to the science geeks at Serious Eats—we love you!

To heat seal cookies, you'll need cellophane bags and a heat sealer. Wait until the cookies are completely dry (and photographed). Then, place each cookie into a cello bag, seal the bag with your heat sealer of choice, and cut the excess bag away. I like to seal the excess at the bottom to create an additional bag.

Why do sugar cookies get hard? ›

Cookies become hard when the moisture in them evaporates. This can be caused by leaving them out in the air for too long, baking them for too long, or storing them improperly. The lack of moisture makes the cookies hard and dry, which makes them difficult to enjoy.

Oven temperatures are a crucial factor in baking. If your cookies consistently come out flat, you may have selected the wrong baking temperature. If you bake cookies using too much heat, the fats in the dough begin to melt before the other ingredients can cook together and form your cookie's rise.

Try different flavorings in the sugar cookie dough.

If you're making your own sugar cookie dough, try a different extract — like almond, peppermint, or citrus — instead of vanilla for a flavor change. You can even add finely grated fresh citrus zest for flecks of beautiful color and a nice pop of flavor.

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.

The long history of manufacturing sugar cookies dates back to the 7th century in Persia. However, sugar cookies as known today were first made by Protestan settlers in the Nazareth colony in Pennsylvania in the 17th century. They were baked in the shape of the state symbol, a keystone.

Pizzelles are the oldest known cookie and originated in the mid-section of Italy. They were made many years ago for the “Festival of the Snakes” also known as the “Feast Day of San Domenico”.

The first real sugar cookie doesn't emerge until the 1700's. Created by Dutch settlers in New York, and referred to as a koekje, this was the first cookie to use an alkaline leavener known as “pearl ash”, and was the real catalyst in the creation of today's modern cookie. But the koekje still had far to go.

The Origin of the Cookie

The first cookies are thought to be test cakes bakers used to test the oven temperature. They date back as early as 7th Century A.D. Persia which is now Iran.