Easy High-Altitude Sugar Cookies! Operating word: easy.
It’s go time, people. We’ve got just a couple of weeks to get teacher gifts together, make adorable little packages of goodies for our neighbors, finish our holiday shopping, and pack in as much family-bonding time as possible before the year’s end. Are you exhausted yet? Me, too. The road to our holiday happy place can be a smidge bumpy at times.
So let’s find happy little shortcuts where we can. This recipe for Easy High Altitude Sugar Cookies can help you address a few things. First, they don’t take too long; in fact, the dough can be made up to a day ahead and rolled out whenever you’re ready. Kids love to help roll, cut, and ice the cookies, making for a fun family activity AND an adorable holiday gift for teachers, neighbors, and grandparents. And finally, they’re just simply delicious – a perfect little treat for the moments you need to take a break and sit down for five minutes with a cup of tea. Milk. Wine. Whatever.
And if you live at altitude, you don’t have to worry that your cookies will spread or come out dry and crumbly. This recipe is made for you!
These aren’t flat, sharp-edged, crispy sugar cookies. They’re fluffy and soft, with a satisfying bite, substantial enough to hold up to being iced by children or ham-handed adults. And they’re not too sweet; they have a fresh, light vanilla flavor that balances the sweetness of sugary icing (here’s my favorite cookie icing recipe).
Speaking of icing … my cookie-decorating skill level is best described as “advanced kindergartner” and I have to confess to you that I dropped several F-bombs while attempting to ice these cookies into perfection. See, I’d decided I was going to make three different consistencies of icing to ensure that beautiful smooth look and clever detail you see on bakery cookies. But, um, it turns out that takes a lot of time, patience, and steady hands – all of which have been in short supply this week. So yeah, that didn’t really happen for me (nor, by the way, is it in alignment with our “easy” theme).
So please share the lesson I learned from my experience, and relax about how the final product looks. If you are into making fancy icing, by all means, go for it (here’s a great tutorial), but it is also perfectly wonderful to whip up some fluffy frosting, lovingly spreading it on your cookies with a butter knife, and sprinkle on some sparkly colored sugar or tiny candy accents. Either way, they’re gonna be gleefully devoured.
Easy High-Altitude Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 mins (plus chilling time)
- Cook Time: 10-12 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins plus chilling
- Yield: About 3 dozen small-med cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
Description
A scrumptious, light and fluffy sugar cookie for altitudes of 8,500 feet and higher.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick, 8 TB) unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (not imitation)
- 3/4 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand or handheld mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in sour cream and vanilla.
- Stir in flour mixture, combining gently until everything begins to clump together and forms a soft dough. If it remains too sticky, add a little more flour, about a tablespoon at a time, until it is handle-able. Pat dough into a rough circle, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours or more (can be made the day before).
- Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to soften slightly. On your rolling surface, lay out a sheet of parchment that will fit your baking sheet. Sprinkle it with powdered sugar and place dough on top. Roll dough out to 1/4-inch thickness.
- Cut out desired shapes. Gather the scraps and re-roll. Avoid re-rolling more than twice as your cookies may become tough. Carefully transfer the parchment to your baking sheet.
- Bake cookies at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until tops are slightly puffed and bottoms are just slightly golden-colored.
- Allow to cool on the pan for a minute or two, transfer to a baking rack. When fully cool, decorate the cookies with frosting and sprinkles.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Notes
… rolling the cookies out using flour can cause your dough to absorb too much, resulting in a tough dough. Rolling them out using powdered sugar instead adds a little extra yumminess without altering the texture.
… likewise, when cutting out cookies, place them carefully so that you have as few scraps as possible to re-roll out. The more you handle the dough, the more gluten it produces and if over-handled, can result in tough or dry cookies.
Yummm” These came out perfectly at 6700 feet above sea level.
Thank you,
Excellent! 🙂
Can I substitute Fage Greek Yogurt for the sour cream?
Yes!
I made these at 9,000 feet (down the road from you in Frisco) and they turned out great! I love how they were fluffy and soft, but still kept the cut-out shape. Thanks!
So glad you liked them, Courtney! Happy Holidays!
why is it coming out so sticky? followed measurements meticulously. I added 2 additional tbs of flour but I’m scared to add more.
i’m at 10,700’ if that helps anything
Do you happen to have a chocolate roll out cookie, or a way to make these with chocolate? I have a picky little boy who LOVES chocolate and I would like to make him dinosaur shaped cookies.
Hi Monica, yep, simply whisk in about a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder in with the flour and proceed with the recipe. Chocolate dinosaurs sound awesome!
Hi, has this recipe been attempted at a lower, but still high elevation? I’m around 5900 ft. Any adjustments needed?
My sister has successfully made these cookies in Boulder (around 5,400 feet) so you should be fine!
Can the dough be made ahead and frozen?
Yes! Form it into two disks, wrap tightly in plastic, then freeze for up to a month. Be sure to bring to room temp before rolling out.
Thanks!
Hey there!
I am making your recipe currently and followed to a T!
I am not the best baker so I really try to be OCD about measurements etc. but when you say “add more flour until its the right texture” it’s quite confusing. I kept adding flour but now I think I may have added too much? The dough is chewy with light flavor now. Before I added the extra flour it was very sticky and wet. Wondering why you didn’t just write in the appropriate amount of flour into the recipe?
Any tips?
Hi Morgan, the moisture in dough can vary according to the size of your eggs (as they’re not exactly uniform) and the water content in butter (which varies from brand to brand). That’s why I say to add a little extra flour if the dough is sticky, just until it’s smooth and easy to handle. Remember that it will firm up even more as it chills in the fridge. If you add too much flour, the dough will start to become stiff and dry which will make it tough to roll out. Hope that helps!
I have loved all your recipes for baked goods! Can’t wait to try this tomorrow in NM @6,900 ft
Thank you so much – hope you enjoy these too!
can I use this dough for drop cookies
This dough may be a bit stiff for drop cookies. You could try rolling them into balls and flattening them, though.
I did not have luck with these.. probably didn’t add enough flour but also the sour cream flavor was not something my family enjoyed and they puffed up so much in the oven (I even tried freezing). We are near Denver. Im guessing these just aren’t for us. The texture was weirdly chewy, like gummy almost. I guess I don’t like things where you have to guess on the amount of flour.
Same. Also in Denver.
I added probably another 1/4 c flour and it’s still too sticky. So dissapointed.
Tried these last week and was delighted! I’m NOT so good with baking as it is, and now that we live at 6,000ft, I’ve all but given up. But as I just discovered the wonders of royal icing (seriously don’t know how I missed that memo for so long!), I just HAD to try some cutout cookies. First time making it I actually used a 1:1 GF flour substitute, and it tasted just great! Just got a new oven, so I’m still experimenting with those options. The cookies actually puffed up quite a bit (while still holding shape), so ¼” dough might be too thick. But, that could’ve been my GF flour, and it could’ve also been the oven on convection. Still a great recipe! Thanks!
I’ve never tried these with GF flour – so glad they worked for you!
I make these every year. I love them! We live in Denver but they still turn out beautifully. Rolling them to the right thickness is key, so they aren’t too puffy or too crispy. It takes a little trial and error, but it’s worth it! I love a “lofthouse” style cookie and these come very close. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks, Kara! 🙂
These are the best sugar cookies I have ever made! We moved to Monument, CO (7400 ft) last year from the Southeast… I thought all hope was lost when it came to baking here. I am so happy I found your website! For the first time, Santa was able to enjoy the sugar cookies on the plate! haha
Thank you! 🙂
Hi! How far ahead of time can the dough be made without freezing? I made one batch right away (and they came out great) but I won’t be able to make the rest for about 5 more days.
I think five days would be pushing it, both from a food safety and a dough texture perspective. I’d recommend freezing until the evening before or day you want to bake, then bringing the dough back to rollable temperature.
Can these cookies be frozen and decorated at a later date? I need to make a large batch for a baby shower.
Yes, they can! Just bake and cool completely before freezing.
Hi! I am trying these out in Dillon CO and I did not have luck..when I was mixing the flour in it was still VERY sticky and I kept adding a little at time and it became even more sticky
These cookies came out much more like a shortbread for me. I had to add a couple extra Tbsp of flour and even then the dough ended up very sticky and elastic; even chilled several hours it was very sticky and I did have to use flour to roll it out and make it workable. They hardly spread at all but they did puff up quite a bit, not ideal for any kind of icing that requires a flat working surface. For reference I am in Colorado Springs.
That being said the cookies are delicious! I really like the flavor and these would be great with a whipped frosting, just not royal icing detail work. Be patient with the recipe and know it could result in a fluffy shortbread and not a crispy cookie.
Thank You Robyn, for your recipe. I love how they came out and that they don’t flatten out. They tasted amazing! I don’t live as high as you do but am still at a high altitude at 4774′. This recipe is very much like my Mother-In-Law’s recipe, that I have used for years, but with a little tweak in the leavening and flour amount. I still used her butter cream frosting recipe because it is wonderful and works for a simple and tasty frosting. My cookies are not particularly frosted pretty but with your cookie recipe they were an amazing hit!