I love sugar cookies. Like obsessed with them. I always have been.
Throughout college and living abroad in my twenties, I’d get regular packages from my mom full of her special sugar cookies (aka the classic Betty Crocker Cooky Book recipe).
I’d basically eat cookies until I was that satisfied kind of full where you feel sorta sick, but also really really happy. (Or is that just me?)
While I grew up loving my mom’s recipe, over the years I’ve branched out. In fact, I’ve never met a homemade sugar cookie that I didn’t enjoy.
So when my friend dropped off 2 sugar cookies from the Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery after I had my third baby, I figured I’d like them. Little did I know that these soft cookies would start to consume my thoughts.
They were beyond amazing.
Every little trip that took me even remotely near the bakery resulted in me buying and devouring several cookies in the car on my way to my next destination. On one of my last visits (on a Friday night), I received a special discount by the sweet kid at the register.
“I’m gonna give you half off today,” he said with a smile, “since you come in here so much.”
I died inside. They knew me here. Even though I had never had a conversation with any employee beyond “I’ll take that cookie there, thanks”.
I muttered a flustered “thank you” and avoided eye contact with any of the couples that filled the bakery, popping in for a date night treat. While I, alone and still in my pajamas, was buying several cookies for myself.
Free Meal Planning Starter Kit
Ready to save time, money, and effort by planning your meals? Grab the free Meal Planning Starter Kit which includes:
- Weekly Meal Planner
- Monthly Meal Planner
- Favorite Recipe Template
- Grocery Shopping List
I NEEDED TO MAKE MY OWN COPYCAT RECIPE
Thoroughly shamed, that experience was a great motivator to severely limit my trips to the bakery–but not enough of a motivator to stop eating them.
So I needed to learn how to capture that flavor in my own kitchen.
I set out and experimented until I fell upon this combination of cookie and frosting. The cookie is adapted from several recipes on Allrecipes and the frosting recipe is adapted from the fabulous Bless This Mess.
This recipe is super tasty. Always a hit at potlucks and as treats for my kids classes. And since I always make way more than we can eat, it’s also been the means through which I’ve becomes friends with my neighbors.
Tips for Making These Sugar Cookies
Tip #1 – Don’t skip the extracts. These recipes use coconut and almond extract (and vanilla, of course) and that’s what gives it the unique and tasty flavor.
Tip #2 – Use cookie scoop: This makes it so you get even-sized cookies. And cookie scoops are so useful! I use this cookie scoop for cookies and scooping cupcake and muffin dough into tins.
Tip #3 – Roll dough into ball and then pat down. This is a super easy sugar cookie recipe. If you’ve done the whole time-consuming roll out method for sugar cookies, this will be a breath of fresh air. Simply make dough balls and then gently pat them down, as pictured below.
(Please note that I was on a whole grain kick and so the picture below is of dough made with part whole wheat flour, hence the speckled appearance.)
#4 – Use silicone baking sheet liner on your cookie sheet. This makes clean up so much easier.
This is also a super easy sugar cookie recipe. If you’ve done the whole time-consuming roll out method for sugar cookies, this will be a breath of fresh air. Simply make dough balls and then gently pat them down.
SWEET TOOTH FAIRY COPYCAT SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE
- 1 1/3 c. softened butter
- 1 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
- 3 1/2 c. flour (or 2 c. white flour + 1 1/3 c. wheat flour)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt*
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and extracts. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until dough comes together. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, scoop up dough for one cookie. Roll it into a ball and then pat down each ball of dough. Place them on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottom is light brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.
SWEET TOOTH FAIRY COPYCAT VANILLA FROSTING RECIPE adapted from BlessThisMess
- 1 cup softened butter*
- 1/4 cup milk
- 5 cups powdered sugar (more or less to your liking)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt*
-
In a medium bowl, whip butter for a 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Then whip in the heavy cream and extracts.
-
Start adding in powdered sugar cup by cup until you reach desired taste and consistency (Note: For cookies, I like a bit of a firmer frosting than for cakes and cupcakes).
-
Mix at high speed for 5 or so minutes.
-
Frost cookies and eat them until you get sick. Walk the rest over to your neighbors.
NOTE: I use salted butter and so I omit adding the additional salt.
ENJOY THE SWEET TOOTH FAIRY SUGAR COOKIE COPYCAT RECIPE
Well, I hope you like them as much as we do around these parts. If you make them, let me know what you think!
And if you’re interest in getting organized (which, frankly, is my jam around these parts) then check out some of my other resources:
Catherine says
For the frosting ingredients, it says to use milk, but then in the instructions it mentions heavy cream. Which is preferred?
Erin says
Good question. I use what I have, but if I have heavy cream or half and half, I use that.