Pantry Basics: Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies 2.0
I’ve come to realise that simple treats work best for my kids. And sugar cookies are essential to every mommy’s kitchen arsenal. They make great everyday treats. But they’re also awesome as flat tart bases for composed desserts and super cute in mini format as cupcake toppers. We’ve used this sugar cookie dough with 3D cookie cutters to create dinosaurs, tangram cookie cutters off Etsy for edible games to go, and turned them into cookie decorating canvases with some ready-to-use icing, and candy eyeballs, lips and mustaches.
This is my favourite sugar cookie recipe of the moment. I’d previously shared another whole wheat sugar cookie recipe. But this one is easier to cut out and retains its shape well. I often roll out one to two portions of this dough and store the remaining portions tightly wrapped (and vacuum packed if you have the tools to do so) in the freezer. Simply defrost overnight and roll out as you would freshly made dough.
For my two-year-old, I make small 3cm sugar cookies that fit easily into her hand. For my five-year-old, his most frequent request of the moment is for sugar cookie tangram shapes.
Wholewheat sugar cookies
Makes about 180 3cm cookies
400g all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
170g superfine wholewheat flour or wholewheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
230g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
100g light brown sugar
300g castor sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Place flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine.
Place butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, scraping down the sides with a spatula where necessary.
Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour in three to four additions. Again, scrape down the sides of the bowl where necessary. Divide dough into four, flatten each into a disc (roughly 330g each). Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Remove a disc of dough from the fridge. Stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll. Dust generously with flour (the dough will be quite sticky). Roll out to 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface (I usually roll it out on a large sheet of baking paper), lifting and rotating the dough with quarter turns regularly. Place on a tray and freeze for for at least 20min. I usually do it overnight. Repeat with every disc of dough.
Cut cookies and transfer them to baking paper-lined trays and freeze for another 20min. Scraps can be rolled out again, placed in the freezer, cut and placed in the freezer before baking.
Preheat convection oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Place cookies 1.5 cm apart on baking paper lined trays. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes depending on how large to cookies are. Only the edges should turn golden brown. Remove and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.
About Su-Lyn Tan
Su-Lyn is Aun's better half and for many years, the secret Editor behind this blog known to readers simply as S. Su-Lyn is an obsessive cook and critical eater whose two favourite pastimes are spending time with her three kids and spending time in the kitchen. She looks forward to combining the two in the years to come.
