Giant Sugar Cookies

The other day I was in the mood to make cookies. It was late in the evening so I wanted something easy. There are stacks of Food Magazines all around our house so I grabbed a few and began thumbing through. The magazine features a cookie recipe each month in the very back of the book (the Cookie Jar section). I found the April 2007 edition in which there is a Giant Sugar Cookie recipe. So off to the kitchen I go...

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with one rack in upper third and another in lower third. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; set aside.

Using an electric mixer on med-hi, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat well to combine.

With mixer on low, add half the flour mixture followed by sour cream, then remaining flour mixture; mix just until smooth (Dough will be stiff; I had to finish mixing it with a wooden spoon).

Drop mounds of dough, each equal to about 3 tablespoons (I used a 1/4 cup of dough), 3 to 4 inches apart, onto two ungreased baking sheets (I still used an Exopat); sprinkle with sugar. Bake until edges of cookies are just firm and tops are barely beginning to brown - I did 20 minutes but I think it was too long. I would recommend starting at 17 or 18 and keep a close eye on them. Also, rotate the sheets half way through baking. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool. I got 11 cookies from this recipe.

These were huge and so good! I think I will put colored sugar on them next time, just to make them more colorful. These are also great gift-giving cookies - stack a few, wrap them in cellophane and tie a ribbon and tag around them. Very cute!