Today I made these delicious lemon vanilla sugar cookies for the first time. They taste great and look very festive. The center of the cookie is soft and the edges are crisp.
They are flavored with both lemon and vanilla extracts. The pure vanilla extract is made from Madagascar vanilla beans.
Cookie Cutters & Sprinkles
The first step is to get out all your cookie cutters, sanding sugars, and sprinkles to figure out what you want to use.
On today’s batch I used both red and white sanding sugars with a Christmas tree shaped cookie cutter.
Gathering cookie baking supplies and sprinkles also allows you to see what you need on your next shopping trip.
The photograph on the right, shows a tray of cookies ready for baking.
Be sure to line your pans with parchment paper for easy removal of cookies.
Ingredients for Lemon Vanilla Sugar Cookies
- 2 1/2 Cups of Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
- 1/2 Cup of Margarine or Butter at Room Temperature
- 1/3 Cup of Shortening
- 1 1/3 Cups of Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Teaspoon of Lemon Extract
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons of Milk or Half and Half
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl cream together sugar, margarine and shortening.
- Add vanilla and lemon extracts, and eggs. Beat until well mixed.
- Add flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt to the sugar mixture. Mix well. The dough will get a little thick, so now is the time to add the milk or half and half.
- Refrigerate the dough until it is cold or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees with shiny pans. If your pans are dark, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line pans with parchment paper for easy removal.
- Working quickly, roll out dough on a floured surface and use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies. If the cookie cutter sticks, dip it in flour. If the dough becomes too sticky to work with, return it to the refrigerator to chill again.
- Bake cookies until the edges become slightly brown. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie cutter. Allow to bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes.
Extra Notes on Lemon Vanilla Sugar Cookies Blog
These Lemon Vanilla Sugar Cookies will freeze well if you place them in an air tight container between layers of wax paper.
The attractive holiday tree design, also, looks great on my cookie tray.
Have a Happy Sugar Cookie Day!