Do you ever start looking for recipes and just go “uuuughhhh oh noooo” because there are 10,000 variations and you don’t want to have to figure out which one is best? Well, one of my relatives gave me The Best Recipe, the Cooks Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. I’m pretty confident using these recipes and knowing that someone did zillions of trials to get the very best cookie/duck/polenta, and I don’t have to worry about it. (Ok, blog over, get the cookbook and go home. Oh, wait, no don’t! I’d be so lonely!)

I wanted some green cookies this week, as it was the playoffs in floor hockey and my team’s shirts are green. Fabulously enough, they were victory cookies, and the Mighty Pucks are the champions!

Winning is sweaty business.

Anyways, cookies…

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Adjust the oven racks to upper and lower middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Place the remaining 1/4 sugar in a shallow bowl or pie dish. I replaced some of the regular sugar with green sparkly sugar.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls, and roll each ball in the sugar. Place the balls 2 – 2 1/2″ apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Butter the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass or ramekin, then dip in sugar. Gently flatten the dough balls to 3/8-1/2″ thick, dipping the glass back in sugar after every 2 or 3 cookies.

Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until 10-11 minutes, or when the cookies are pale golden. Most of the browning on mine was right at the edges.

Let cool 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer with a wide spatula to a rack to cool completely.

These are some pretty fabulous sugar cookies – I’m willing to believe they’re the best, which is certainly what the Mighty Pucks deserve!

Sugar Cookies

From The Best Recipe.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Adjust the oven racks to upper and lower middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Place the remaining 1/4 sugar in a shallow bowl or pie dish.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls, and roll each ball in the sugar. Place the balls 2 – 2 1/2″ apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Butter the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass or ramekin, then dip in sugar. Gently flatten the dough balls to 3/8-1/2″ thick, dipping the glass back in sugar after every 2 or 3 cookies.

Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until 10-11 minutes, or when the cookies are pale golden. Let cool 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer with a wide spatula to a rack to cool completely.