Chewy Sugar Cookies for Santa

Welcome to Day 3 of Christmas Week. A huge group of talented bloggers joined forces to bring you some holiday cheer. We hope you love all the festive recipes we're offering up this week. Be sure to enter the giveaway to win some amazing prizes.

Do you like your sugar cookies crispy or chewy? I like both, but when I think of the traditional sugar cookie, I always think "chewy" and coated in sparkling sugar.

My favorite cookies growing up were made by Van de Kamp's, a family-run company that was based in Los Angeles (the name still exists, but it's not even close to being the same company). They made the best grocery store chocolate chip cookies ever, and their sugar cookies were absolutely the best dunked in milk. So good. It's what I think of when I think of sugar cookies. These cookies come pretty close (now, if someone could give me a recipe to recreate Sunshine custard sandwich cookies, especially the chocolate ones.... ).

I think these cookies are perfect for Santa's cookie plate!

These are really easy to make too. You can pretty much have fresh and chewy sugar cookies within an hour.

Crackly on top, kind of crispy on the edges, and chewy in the middle. In my mind, the epitome of the perfect sugar cookie.

Chewy Sugar Cookies Recipe

Makes about 36 cookies. Adapted from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. They've just added a gluten free chapter. 

Ingredients

3/4 cups (6 ounces) unsalted butter

3/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (4 ounces) brown sugar

1/4 cup (2 3/4 ounces by weight) corn syrup

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg

2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 cup sparkling, sanding, or granulated sugar to coat the cookies

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugars, corn syrup, vanilla, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg. Add the flour, and mix on low until just combined. 
4. Fill a small bowl with the sanding sugar.
5. Using a tablespoon cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop out the dough and roll it in the sugar. Place the dough on the baking sheet. You should be able to fit twelve cookies on each baking sheet. 
6. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10 minutes. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. 
7. Fix a plate for Santa. 

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Recipes from Day 3 of Christmas Week! Please visit all our talented participants:

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