Grandma's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why put cream of tartar in sugar cookies? ›

Cream of tartar makes cookies chewy, as it precludes the sugar in the dough from crystalizing, which would lead to crispiness (ie: the opposite of chewiness).

The sour cream in this dough does a couple of good things – it makes the texture tender, a little flaky and a little cakey; and it also makes it just a touch tangy. The dough is very easy to roll and to work with, just be sure to chill it thoroughly after you make it.

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. This is our favorite hack for holiday Pillsbury cookie dough.

Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

Adding it to cake or cookie batters prevents sugar from banding together and crystallizing, meaning that it results in more of a tender chew—snickerdoodles and sugar cookies wouldn't be the same without cream of tartar. The same effect is why it's added to some frostings and syrups, where it helps keep things smooth.

Powdered sugar has a much finer texture and a higher cornstarch content, which can absorb moisture and lead to a drier, crumbly cookie texture. If you use powdered sugar in place of granulated sugar, you'll likely end up with cookies that are more cake-like and less chewy.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Make a straight substitution — If you want to create healthier baked goods or just want a simple substitution, use an equal amount of yogurt in place of the sour cream. Whole milk yogurt works best and brings a big reduction in fat, plus more protein and calcium.

A handful of sprinkles is sure to bring a smile to any face. We've baked starry candy sprinkles right into our sugar cookie dough in this cute-as-can-be dessert bar, topped with a drizzle of melted vanilla baking chips and of course, more sprinkles. A handful of sprinkles is sure to bring a smile to any face.

Sugar sweetens the cookies and makes them an enticing golden brown. Adding too little sugar can affect the taste and texture of cookies. Adding too much can cause them to be brittle. Take your time creaming the sugar and butter together at the beginning.

Can you over mix sugar cookie dough? ›

Over-working the dough yields a tough cookie, which is not at all what you want. 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.

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

Without baking soda or baking powder, these cookies will remain a little flatter then other recipes but because of the eggs and creaming of the butter and sugars in this recipe they will still puff up a little in the oven. They will have crispy edges and a soft, chewy center.

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

On the other hand, cream of tartar on its own is often included in royal icing recipes, as one of its key functions is to stabilize whipped egg whites. (It's also used to stabilize whipped cream and to prevent sugar syrups from crystallizing.)

To make sugar cookies keep their shape, follow these tips: Chill the dough: After mixing the cookie dough, chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out. Chilling the dough will help it firm up and make it easier to cut into shapes without losing their definition.

Adding a pinch of cream of tartar to your sugar syrup will help break down the sugar molecules and stop them from crystalizing early on. Adding a tangy flavor to cookie recipes.