[donotprint] Have you ever just wanted a simple cookie? The type of cookie which comforts you like an old friend who calls just to say they were thinking of you. Whenever I’ve had a rough day, nothing is more therapeutic than baking cookies. For a reason unknown to even myself, all I wanted was a nostalgic cookie to remind me of my childhood where all my cares of the world were related to tv shows, going to the park, and playing with friends in the neighborhood.
Nothing brings me back to being 5 years old again than a simple sugar cookie. A pillow like softness on the inside and a tender crust on the outside, these cookies whisper, “Hello dear friend.”
So this morning I baked a batch of cracked cookies with sugar sprinkles. They’re called cracked cookies because the surface of each cookie has a cracked like texture. These aren’t the type of sugar cookies you roll out but are simply drop cookies which doesn’t require any effort on my part to make. If you’re feeling a little blue today, may I suggest baking a batch of these cookies? They will surely bring a smile to your face and uplift your spirit. Enjoy!
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Dropped Cracked Sugar Cookies
Makes 32 medium sized cookies – Adapted from AllRecipes.com
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup salted butter
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup coarse sugar crystals or regular granulated sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugar until it is nice and creamy. Mix in 1 egg yolk at a time and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, and salt until cookie dough is completely mixed. Be sure to scrape down the bowl to be sure everything is mixed. Using a medium scoop, form dough balls and roll them in sugar crystals. Place cookie balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 2 inches apart from one another. Be sure not to flatten the dough. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the surface of each cookies have a cracked like texture. Remove from oven and allow cookies to remain on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Hi,
I was wondering if there would any way to halve this recipe ?
What a great way to adapt them. I’m going to have to try adding those candies. Thanks for sharing.
These are the BEST sugar cookies that aren’t of the rolled variety! I have made these cookies since finding this recipe in 2011. At Christmas time, I add about 1 cup of Andes Candies pieces.Yum!! They are a hit with family and friends.
My dough came out runny what did I do wrong
Delicious! I like my cookies slightly underbaked, so I baked them for 8 minutes. They turned out perfect! I will be making them again!
Hi! My cookies would not spread when I bake them. Can someone help or tell me what to do so it can spread.
Hi Alice,
Absolutely love these cookies–such a great dough to work with and they freeze beautifully as well! I wanted to get your input on whether these could be made
into lemon sugar cookies–using fresh juice and zest? I wasn’t sure if this would
upset the “chemistry” of the cookie? If yes, wd you have a guess how much of
each to use? Just a thought and I decided to ask the expert! 🙂
Thank you–I enjoy your blog & recipes so much–you do a great job!!
Going to try this recipe soon. Most sugar cookie recipes call for the whole egg. What difference is made by using only the yokes in your recipe?
Could you use colored cracked sugar for a simple decoration?
Hi, no chilling necessary!
does anyone know if these cookies need to be chilled?
I’ve used this recipe numerous times now and it’s my families favorite all-time hands down cookie recipe. Thanks for sharing this with us!
I was searching for an easy drop sugar cookie recipe and am so happy I found this one! I love sugar cookies, but honestly hate rolling them out and icing them. This is the perfect recipe for me. Easy, easy, easy…and they turned out exactly like the picture. I used a small ice scream scoop and parchment paper (love that stuff!) and ended up with 27 cookies. I didn’t have any course sugar (will use it next time), but the cookies still turned out delicious…so soft and buttery! This is definitely a recipe I will be using again and again!
Tasty cookies but I also had ‘non-spreading’ cookies. I have a feeling there’s a bit too much flour in the recipe. I tried mixing it vigorously in the end to see if the dough would soften up but it just stayed thick. I’m not sure if you found any other suggestions that I could try. I also added half a teaspoon of nutmeg to give it a flavourful aroma. Just as another option to the recipe.