Checkered sugar cookies are just sugar cookies but with a fun and impressive design! My sugar cookie recipe is so versatile–it can be used with jam, or covered in royal icing, but the beauty of this recipe is that it stands well all by itself!
There is an art to producing the perfect no-spread sugar cookie. The cookie has to have great flavor on its own, maintain the right balance of textures and be able to pair well with additives like royal icing, jam or buttercream. FRIENDS…THIS IS THAT RECIPE!! I have been using this sugar cookie recipe for years and it comes through for me every. single. time.
The Ingredients
To make these no-spread Checkered sugar cookies recipe you will need:
- Unsalted butter–make sure your butter is of good quality this can make or break the tastiness of the cookie! Some brands I love are Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter and Danish Creamery.
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract–another ingredient that needs to be of the best quality for the flavor we’re going for. I love to use Nielsen Massey and McCormick for the most part when I bake!
- Almond Extract–by now you know the deal, good quality here. A little almond extract goes a long way, which is why this recipe only calls for ¼ tsp of it.
- One egg
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Almond flour–this ingredient adds an extra flavor and bite to the cookie that works so well! It’s part of the secret/magic of this recipe!
Because of the almond flour in this checkered sugar cookies recipe, it’s pretty easy to make it fully gluten free. Just swap the all purpose flour for 1 for 1 gluten free flour and you have a gluten free option!
The Checkered Sugar Cookies Design
Checkered sugar cookies are a common find around the holidays. Here’s how I achieved the look:
- Make the cookie dough for the checkered sugar cookies according to the instructions below.
- Divide the dough in half, removing one half from the mixing bowl.
- Add red food coloring to the half of the cookie dough that remains in the bowl and mix until the dough is the red you desire.
- Roll out both halves of the cookie dough into two equal rectangles separately and between pieces of parchment paper
- Place each half on a baking tray in the freezer to firm up for 5-10 minutes
- Remove from the freezer and place one rectangle on top of the other. Trim the edges to make the rectangles even.
- Cut the shape in half the long way, then place one half over the other so that the colors alternate. You should have a layer of plain, then red, then plain, then red!
- Cut lengthwise down the shape so that you have roughly 6, ½ inch strips of dough.
- Place the strips on top of each other, creating an alternating checkered pattern
- You should have 3 “logs” of rectangular dough.
- Roll each “log” in sprinkles or coarse sugar and cut into ½ inch cookies
- Place on baking sheet and bake!
Happy Patterned Baking!
Can baking be therapeutic?
I often talk about baking being a therapeutic hobby but I’d like to share more about why I feel that way as well as how it can become a relaxing hobby for you!
When I bake, it’s my creative time. I may put on my favorite nostalgic movie or tv show in the background, or a Spotify playlist titled “French café” and leave my troubles behind.
Sometimes I pour myself a glass of wine and light a candle. Then, with the mood set, the mixing of batter, kneading of dough and smoothing of icing is my only care in the world.
When I say baking is therapeutic, sometimes people respond saying “not for me it isn’t!” I completely understand why someone might feel that way. There have been plenty of times where I spend hours on something only for it to fail or something breaks that shouldn’t or I forget to clean as I go and am left with a disastrous kitchen to clean.
So I should in reality, have a caveat to my “baking as therapy” claims…
Baking is therapy when you curate the experience to be relaxing.
How do you curate that relaxing experience for yourself, you ask?
How to make baking therapeutic…
- Prepare your mind–know that it’s okay if the cake doesn’t rise, or the butter wasn’t chilled enough. Shift your mindset from seeing your failures as mistakes to seeing them as opportunities for learning.
- Prepare your space–I cannot and will not bake on top of a messy kitchen. If I were to do this I would be starting from a place of stress! Take an extra 10 minutes to clean any dishes in the sink and wipe down the counters, this small effort will pay you back greatly in brain space and clarity.
- Clean as you go! I’ll tell you the one way to make baking stressful and tiresome, is to not clean as you go! After I use each ingredient that I no longer need, I put it away.
After each major step in the process, I wipe down the counters and put dishes that are no longer needed in the sink. If there is chill time or baking time I don’t sit, I do the cleaning then. Make this shift and you’ll really notice the difference!
By the way, this last tip really helped me when I was on The Great American Baking Show–and the crew that cleaned up behind us made a point to tell me that my workspace was always so clean they didn’t have much to do!
I would reply by saying “it’s how I stay sane in this tent!”
Additional suggestions:
*Maybe try printing off the recipe instead of looking at it on your phone, tablet or laptop and use this time to unplug from technology for a few hours
**Invite friends or family over to share your creation with you. Time spent with loved ones over food is a universally special experience
And that’s how I discovered baking for my mental health. If you try any of these suggestions, let me know how it went for you! I’m really invested in spreading this message to others in hopes that baking will enhance your lives more than it already does!
Checkered Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Checkered Sugar Cookies
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp red food coloring
- 1/2 cup coarse sugar for rolling
Instructions
For the Checkered Sugar Cookies
- In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place ½ cup of unsalted butter at room temperature and 1 cup of granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 1-2 minutes).
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of all purpose flour, ½ cup of almond flour, 1 tsp of baking powder and ¼ tsp of salt until combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl of butter and sugar mixture and then add 1 egg, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and ¼ tsp of almond extract. Mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide the dough in half, removing one half from the mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp of red food coloring to the half of the cookie dough that remains in the mixing bowl.
- Roll out the two halves of the cookie dough into two equal rectangles separately, between pieces of parchment paper.
- Place each half of rolled out cookie dough onto a baking tray and into the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the two halves from the freezer and place one half on top of the other. Trim the edges to make the rectangles even.
- Cut the shape in half the long way, then place one half over the other so that the colors alternate. You should have a layer of lain, then red, then plain, then red, at this point.
- Cut lengthwise down the shape so that you have roughly 6, 1/2 inch strips of dough.
- Place the strips on top of each other, creating an alternating checkered pattern. you should have three "logs" of rectangular dough.
- Roll each "log" in sprinkles or coarse sugar and cut into 1/2 inch cookies.
- Place on a baking sheet about 1" apart and bake for 8-10 minutes, baking for less time if you prefer the cookies to be softer.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool and enjoy!
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