Deliciously soft sugar cookies with yogurt. The colorful Christmas cookies are a real eye-catcher and simply delicious!
Fancy some wonderfully soft cookies that melt in your mouth? Today we have traditional American cookies, which are pretty different from our German classics. The American sugar cookies recipe is a bit "different" in both preparation and result. And sooooo good!
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Taste and Occasion
If I understand it correctly, the term Sugar Cookie is more or less a collective term for cookies that are all made of buttery dough. And are pretty sweet. For my alternative of the Christmas cookie, I have significantly reduced the sugar content. And added yogurt to the dough. This creates wonderfully soft cookies whose consistency is similar to my lemon cookies. These are not crispy shortbread cookies but rather a sort of mixture of shortbread and sponge. For full enjoyment, you decorate the easy sugar cookies still lush with frosting. So the yogurt cookies also become a real eye-catcher - whether during the Christmas season or the whole year.
Ingredients
Instead of making yogurt cookies, you can make the cookies with cream cheese. Both make the sugar cookies nice and fluffy. When decorating the cookies, you have a wide variety of options: Either cover them with classic powdered sugar icing or with a melted (white) chocolate coating. Or, like me, you choose the lush alternative.
My yogurt sugar cookies got a buttercream topping (partly with gel colors). And the obligatory sprinkles. So, of course, the cookies do not last quite as long. However, they can be stored well for a few days. In the refrigerator for up to a week, in the freezer for months. But they never last forever in our house 🙂 . Due to the sponge-like mass, the yogurt cookies are not quite as long-lasting as classic cookie cutters, even with icing.
How to make the Soft Sugar Cookies with Yogurt
First things first: Mix flour with baking powder and baking soda and beat butter and sugar for a few minutes until very fluffy. Stir in egg and vanilla.
Now, add the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt and mix everything briefly to a smooth (quite sticky) dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours. Then, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured work surface until not too thin. Using a large round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place them spaced apart on a baking sheet.
It's time to bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. My tip: They should be somewhat soft. Do the same with the remaining dough and let cookies cool, then decorate (see notes). For buttercream frosting, beat softened butter for a few minutes until fluffy. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar. Add milk if desired and color. Spread over cookies with a spoon. Enjoy!
Top Tip
By the way: You can either cut out the round cookies before baking or bake the dough as a sheet and then cut out circles. (The rest is good for cake pops or garnet chips 😉) . If you are looking for a buttercream alternative, you can use any other frosting for sugar cookies.
Recipe Card
Soft Sugar Cookies with Yogurt
Ingredients
For the dough
- 75 grams (⅓ cup) butter, soft
- 110 grams (⅔ cup) sugar
- 1 egg, medium
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 grams (2 cups) wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (⅓ teaspoon) baking soda
- 160 grams (¾ cup) Greek yogurt, or whole milk yogurt
For the frosting
- 90 grams (6 ½ tablespoons) butter, soft
- 150 grams (1 ⅓ cups) powdered sugar, coarse
- food coloring, to taste
Instructions
- Mix flour with baking powder and baking soda. Beat butter and sugar for a few minutes until very fluffy. Stir in egg and vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt and mix everything briefly to a smooth (quite sticky) dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured work surface until not too thin. Using a large round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place them spaced apart on a baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. They should be somewhat soft. Do the same with the remaining dough.
- Let cookies cool and decorate (see notes). For buttercream frosting, beat softened butter for a few minutes until fluffy. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar. Add milk if desired and color. Spread over cookies with a spoon.
Notes
- Instead of buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting is also suitable. With frosting, the cookies will keep for just under a week (after 2 days in a container in the refrigerator).
- Alternatively, you can frost the cookies with classic frosting or melted white chocolate coating.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
You'll find plenty more recipes for classic Christmas cookies on my blog. For example, this one or the low carb alternative.
Nutrition
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About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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