Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are a baking staple-- they include simple ingredients, and they're a sure-fire crowd-pleaser.  There are many sugar cookies recipes out there, but sometimes you just have to look to a knowledgeable other-- also known as Martha Stewart.  From Martha Stewart's Cookies book, I followed her recipe for "Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies" for most of the way.  I even follow her directions to rotate the cookies halfway (and it's a rule that I follow now with all my baking).  Deliciously simple cookies that are sure to please whomever devours these cookies.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1.75 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest*
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• sandy sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  
2. Put sugars and zest* in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on medium speed 30 seconds.  Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute.  Mix in eggs one at a time, and then the lemon juice.  Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. 
3. Using a 2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.  Flatten cookies slightly; sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Lightly bruch with a wet pastry brush; spring with more sanding sugar.
4. Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.  Transfer cookies to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.  Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.  

*I do not brush the cookies with a wet pastry brush when sprinkling the sugar; I roll the dough into little balls (with my hands) and then lightly press them into the sugar.  Then, I put the dough onto the baking sheet...still works well. :)

See also: my Simple Vanilla Icing for sugar cookies