Western Living Magazine
Pamela Anderson’s Ladysmith Home Is a Whimsical, ‘Funky Grandma’ Dream Come True
Dream Condo Alert: A Warm, Timber-Lined Loft We ‘Woodn’t’ Mind Living In
Trade Secrets: A Beautiful Bedroom with a Neutral Colour Palette
The Essential Guide to the 2023 BCL Summer Spirit Release
Recipe: Spot Prawn and Cherry Gazpacho
The Low-Alcohol Revolution Comes to the Okanagan
Wellness in Whistler—Your Ultimate Early Summer Retreat
It all starts here in Nanaimo
Local Summer Getaway Guide 2023: 6 Great Ways to Explore B.C., Alberta and Washington
Protected: Visit the Joint Replacement Center of Scottsdale
What to Get for Mother’s Day: Editors’ Picks
This Is Not a Drill: West Elm Just Launched an Outdoor Furniture Collab with Marimekko
Designers of the Year 2023: Meet the All-Star Industrial Design Judges
Deadline Extended! Enter Western Living’s 2023 Designers of the Year Awards
Designers of the Year 2023: These Are Your All-Star Interior Design Judges
This perfect recipe is easy to adapt to more elaborate cookies—and we've got 6 more variations here (yes, Linzer cookies too!)
Sugar cookies are holiday classics—rolled, shaped, filled or sandwiched, this basic recipe can be called into service to create dozens of different cookies. It will keep its shape once baked, so use your imagination.
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup canola or other mild vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
In a large bowl, beat both sugars with the butter and oil until light. Add egg and vanilla and beat for another minute. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir or beat on low speed just until you have smooth dough. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F. On a floured surface, roll dough out 1/4-inch thick and cut into shapes, then transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until pale golden around the edges; cool on a wire rack.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
Thumbprint Cookies Don’t bother refrigerating the dough—instead, shape it into walnut-sized balls, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and press down on each with your thumb to make a dent. Fill with a small spoonful of jam, mincemeat or other preserves and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until pale golden. If you like, dust with icing sugar.
Gingerbread Cookies Substitute molasses for the oil, and then add 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger and ½ tsp nutmeg to the dry ingredients. Add a little extra flour if the dough is too soft. Chill, roll, cut and bake as directed.
Icebox Cookies Stir 1 cup chopped nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chunks or any other additions you like into the dough. Shape into two logs, wrap in plastic or parchment and refrigerate for several hours or up to a week, or freeze for up to 4 months. Slice ¼-inch thick and bake as directed.
Linzer Cookies Roll and cut simple shapes, like circles, and cut a small window out of half of the cookies before baking. Once baked, spread whole cookies with raspberry or apricot jam, then sprinkle the windowed cookies with icing sugar before placing on top.
Lemon Meltaways Add the grated zest of a lemon to the butter-sugar mixture as you beat it. Bake as directed, and drizzle cooled cookies with an icing made with ½ cup icing sugar and 2 tsp lemon juice.
Cinnamon Bun Crunch Icebox Cookies On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle about ¼-inch thick. Sprinkle with dark brown sugar and cinnamon, then roll up, starting from a long edge. Cut the roll in half, wrap in plastic or parchment and refrigerate for at least an hour. Slice ¼-inch thick and bake as directed.
Are you over 18 years of age?