The Best Holiday Bourbon Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

‘Tis the season for holiday baking. Today I am sharing a recipe created by my husband, James for orange bourbon vanilla sugar cookies. This is seriously the best cookie I have ever eaten (and I have had my fair share of cookies.)

 

We have tried to bake a lot of things together before that weren’t the best, but he totally nailed it with this batch. So, of course, I had to document and share it here with you. Whether you’re baking holiday cookies for the first time or looking for something different to add to your usual assortment, this recipe is sure to be a winner!

Let’s get started with the ingredients for Bourbon Vanilla Sugar Cookies:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup butter

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar

• 1 orange (optional and adds an extra layer of flavor)

• 2 eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla bourbon extract (I used Trader Joe’s brand which can be ordered if you do not have a Trader Joe’s near you here.)

Now that you have all of the ingredients you need, let’s get baking these Vanilla Sugar Cookies!

• First, you will sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together, and set aside. On low/medium heat, melt the butter in a pan on the stove. Secondly, combine the melted butter and sugar in your mixing bowl. I use an electric stand mixer. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla bourbon extract. Use a micro-plane on the orange and zest the entire outside into the mixture. Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients until fully absorbed. Finally, you are ready to cover the dough and chill for 2 hours. I use plastic wrap, don’t handle the dough too much here, just get it in a neat ball and get it in the fridge. If you don’t have plastic wrap, you can dampen a kitchen towel and cover the dough in your bowl.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (200 degrees C). On a cookie sheet, line with parchment paper. On a clean floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Don’t get these too thin, it will make them crispy. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters.

• Firstly, you will want to bake these for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, they won’t look done, but they are, just give the middle of the cookies a touch and if they are solid in that 8-10 minute window take them out.

• Next, let them sit on the cookie sheets for another minute before moving them to cool on wire racks.

• Finally, If you want to add decorations like those crunchy glitter things add those to the top of the cookies before baking!

The Perfect Royal Icing

Royal Icing is the best icing for cookies. It is not too sweet and really adds a beautiful, classic look to any cookie. Now take into consideration that this is the first time James has made these cookies, and the decorating skills are not quite there yet………LOL! I don’t even care because they tasted amazing. He used Alton Brown’s royal icing recipe to top these cookies. Here is the link to his recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all for now. I hope you set aside time this Christmas season to do a little holiday baking with someone you love. Let me know in the comments below what your favorite Christmas cookie is or if you try this amazing recipe yourself this holiday season.

Happy Baking!

I would love to hear from you if you try this recipe for the vanilla sugar cookies in the comment below and how your family enjoys them.