Friday, January 21, 2011

Buttermilk Sugar Cookies


I whipped up a batch of these sugar cookies last weekend for a tennis match. And oh my, what an incredible treat! These cookies are a wonderful fluff of subtle sweetness. I could have easily sat down and devoured the entire batch all on my own. Thankfully I had already committed to bringing a dessert to the match, so my will power stepped in and intervened before they were all gone... it was a close call!
The texture of these little sweeties is pure delight. Enjoy one with a cup of hot cocoa or a glass of milk, and you will find yourself floating right up to cloud nine. Heavenly!

Helpful Tip: Up until just recently, I always purchased buttermilk from the grocery store. The problems I often ran into were (1) the milk going bad before I could use all of it or (2) not having enough on hand. So in an effort to be less wasteful, I researched substitutes for buttermilk. And it turns out that you can make your own! Place 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar into a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to bring liquid to the 1 cup line. Let stand 5 minutes. Voila! This way I can make just the amount of buttermilk I need, when I need it, and none goes to waste. :)  

Ingredients
Yields 3 1/2 dozen
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with Silpat mat or parchment paper; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream shortening and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternating with buttermilk, beating well after each addition (batter will be moist).

Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Source: Taste of Home 2010 Best Holiday Recipes magazine

25 comments:

blog is the new black on January 21, 2011 at 8:16 AM said...

These look awesome! Love a good sugar cookie. :)

Anonymous said...

I love sugar cookies and yours look delicious! I love how fluffy and light they look. Yum!

Kate @ Diethood.com on January 21, 2011 at 9:58 AM said...

Oh those cookies look amazing! I would make sure that I had somewhere to take them before making a batch because just as you, I would be tempted to eat them up... they just sound so fluffy, sweet and yummy!

Steph on January 21, 2011 at 6:33 PM said...

What a great looking cookie. I would have been tempted to eat them all too!

Taylor on January 21, 2011 at 6:54 PM said...

These look so fluffy and delicious! I bet they would also be great with a little frosting too :)

Lisa on January 22, 2011 at 12:15 AM said...

What delicious looking little sugar cookies. I bet that buttermilk adds a really nice flavor to them. I'm starting a new linky on my blog called "Sweets for a Saturday" and I'd like to invite you to stop by and link this up.

Tiffany on January 22, 2011 at 3:57 AM said...

The texture of this cookie looks so light and fluffy!!!

Amy Bakes Everything on January 22, 2011 at 8:52 AM said...

Great old-timey recipe! I love a good sugar cookie, I'll bet the buttermilk is killer in this!

Annie on January 22, 2011 at 9:03 AM said...

These cookies look so tasty! They would be great with a cup of tea. Thanks for the tip on the buttermilk, I have tried freezing it in the past but after it thawed it would separate really badly and look disgusting.

Christina on January 22, 2011 at 10:25 AM said...

What perfect looking sugar cookies! I always forget about that buttermilk trick! Thanks for the reminder!!!

Lynn @ I'll Have What She's Having on January 22, 2011 at 12:55 PM said...

I love sugar cookies. There's something about them that's just so comforting. These look great!

Georgia | The Comfort of Cooking on January 22, 2011 at 2:23 PM said...

My favorite cookie is a simple sugar cookie, and these look divine! Thanks for sharing! I'm so glad I found your blog and am looking forward to exploring your recipes and seeing more! :) - Georgia

Amy on January 22, 2011 at 8:41 PM said...

These look lovely. Gotta try it soon.

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My Little Space on January 23, 2011 at 6:44 AM said...

Hmm..mm... what a great looking cookies! Very tempting. Thanks for sharing it & hope you're ahving a great weekend.
Cheers, Kristy

Angie's Recipes on January 23, 2011 at 12:10 PM said...

Those cookies look so lovely! Love the idea of using buttermilk in a cookie dough.

Anonymous said...

I love, love, love dunking sugar cookies in hot cocoa :) I'm willing to bet the buttermilk in these puts them over the top!

Lisa on January 24, 2011 at 4:24 AM said...

Thanks so much for linking up with Sweets for a Saturday. I truly appreciate the support. I hope you'll be able to join in again next week. By that time I'll have a cute button that you can grab and add to your post.

Mary at n00bcakes on January 24, 2011 at 8:34 AM said...

I've never heard of buttermilk sugar cookies, that sounds pretty interesting! Plus, thanks for the tip on making your own buttermilk! I have the same exact problem...I buy a 1/2 gallon at the store, and then spend the next week hunting for recipes that include buttermilk so all of it doesn't go to waste. ^_^

Anonymous said...

YUM! Buttermilk cookies are on my to do list now!

Anonymous said...

These look WONDERFUL! I learned the vinegar buttermilk trick from my mother when I was about 5 and I can't tell you often I use it! This recipe will be going on my "to make" list. ;)

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake on January 25, 2011 at 4:39 PM said...

I bet the buttermilk makes extremely tender cookies...I'll have to try these :)

Brandie@thecountrycook on January 26, 2011 at 10:39 AM said...

I love that these have buttermilk in them! They look so tasty!!

Anonymous said...

I use powdered buttermilk - just add the powder with the dry ingredients and then add water when the recipe calls for the buttermilk. Works like a charm every time. Looking forward to trying out this recipe, looks scrumptious!

Julie on January 28, 2011 at 1:05 AM said...

I just found you from the Sweets for Saturday. So glad I did. I love sugar cookies but don't really love rolling them out. I can't wait to try yours.

Anonymous said...

These are definitely on my list to try!
BTW did you know you can freeze buttermilk in recipe amounts? Personally I do find the vinegar in milk sub to be a poor sub.
Luisa CA

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