Summer sugar cookies are deliciously soft and chewy and they are perfect for your summer celebration.
Red, white, and blue sugar cookie dough great for 4th of July, is rolled in sugar before being baked to a delicious tender, and chewy treat.
These easy-to-make patriotic cookies are and fun to make with the kids, these cookies are great for cookouts, BBQs, potlucks, or just for a yummy summer treat.
How to Make Sugar Cookies
The key to making soft and tender sugar cookies is to begin by working with room temperature ingredients. Starting with softened butter will cream together easier with the granulated sugar and it will prevent overworking the dough which can result in a less chewy cookie.
Once the butter and sugar is blended well, the egg is beaten into the mix as well as the vanilla extract.
The all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder are then combined together in a bowl and then added into the wet mixture. When soft cookie dough forms, it is ready to be divided into three separate pieces that are equal in size.
One of the pieces of dough is rolled out into a tube shape and placed on parchment paper.
The next step is to take one piece of the dough and color it with the food coloring of choice. Start with a few drops and then increase until you are happy with the color.
Stretch the color dough out next to the uncolored dough and repeat with the third and final dough.
Once the doughs are colored and the dough is stretched out next to each other, the parchment paper is used to roll into one big tube of dough.
The prepared cookie dough is wrapped tightly and placed in the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour.
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Ingredients in Summer Sugar Cookies
The ingredients for sugar cookies are basic everyday ingredients can are in most home pantries. The red and blue dye turns these into colorful summer sugar cookies but using different color combos can make these sugar cookies perfect for any occasion! Experiment with the colors and make your own creative cookies!
- Unsalted butter- softened butter is easier to work with the ingredients will come together better and much easier.
- Granulated sugar - for both inside the cookie and to roll the cookie dough into.
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Baking Powder - to give the cookies a little lift
- All-purpose flour - spooned & leveled
- 1 egg
- Red and Blue Food coloring
Slice and Bake Sugar Cookies
These cookies are easy to make and the ingredients are the same as you would expect in a traditional sugar cookie. Once the cookie dough is made and divided into three equally separate pieces, two of the pieces are dyed using food coloring and rolled into a long strip. Think refrigerated slice and bake cookie dough!
The strips of dough are laid next to each other and the parchment paper is used to shape and roll the dough into a tube. Once the tube is formed and the colors are pressed together, it is tightly wrapped and placed in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour. This will prevent the cookies from spreading and the cookies will keep the shape better.
After the hour is up, the dough is then sliced into ¼" slices and those slices are rolled in granulated sugar before being placed on a baking sheet.
To prevent sticking, a baking sheet lined with silpat mats. They're easy to clean up and perfect to keep your cookies from sticking and over-browning on the bottoms.
These cookies take about ten minutes in the oven and then another 5 minutes or so to cool.
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📖 Recipe
Summer Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter - softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Red Food Coloring
- Blue Food Coloring
- ½ cup granulated sugar - for rolling the cookie dough slices in.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Cream together the unsalted butter together with the granulated sugar.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder, salt, and flour.
- Slowly beat the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.
- Once soft dough forms, separate the dough into three equally sized pieces.
- Stretch and roll one piece of the dough into a roughly 15-inch long rope.
- Dye one of the pieces of dough red, stretch it out to the same size as the uncolored dye.
- Repeat with the other dye and place it next to the together 2 pieces.
- Using parchment paper or saran wrap, roll the dough up tightly together to ensure that all of the seams are pressed into the other colors.
- Wrap tightly and chill for at least 1 hour.
- After the dough is done chilling, slice the dough in ¼" inch slices and roll in granulated sugar before placing them on a prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for maximum freshness.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on third-party calculations. Actual values may vary due to ingredients, measurements, and serving sizes.
© Mama Needs Cake
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Dana is an experienced recipe creator who crafts easy and delicious recipes for all levels of home cooks.
Her recipes range from classic comfort foods to healthy and nutritious meals, and she is always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to bring flavor and variety to the table.
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