If there is one cookie that has been so elusive to me, it’s the soft sugar cookie. I’m not talking about the delectable cookies I use for my royal icing-decorated cookies either – those I’ve got managed and handled. See, Kyle and I love these soft sugar cookies from the bakery at our grocery store which have this incredible frosting on them and we’ve been making various kinds of sugar cookies and frosting recipes for months trying to find the one that can live up to our standards of the store cookie.
And we’ve finally found THE cookie thanks to The Tate’s Bake Shop cookbook. They were spot-on what we were hoping for and they even contained a little extra special tang from the sour cream they are made with. And the frosting we topped them with (not from Tate’s but see below for the recipe) couldn’t have been more outstanding! These are drop sugar cookies that don’t require all that chilling and rolling that other sugar cookies do – definitely a plus in my book! – and start to finish, they can be ready in well under an hour. If you don’t know about Tate’s, it’s a long-standing and much beloved bake shop in Southampton, NY (shout out to my fellow Long Islanders!) and is so highly regarded that Ina Garten stocked her Barefoot Contessa store for years with Tate’s baked goods and subsequently wrote the foreword in the Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook. And coincidentally, Kathleen’s peanut butter frosting recipe (featured in this book and in Barefoot Contessa at Home) has been my go-to recipe for almost 3 years now…it’s incredible!!
To celebrate these fantastic sugar cookies, I’m giving away one copy of Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and an amazing gift box of 3 types of Tate’s Bake Shop cookies (chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and white chocolate chip macadamia nut), all courtesy of Tate’s. You could definitely include these cookies as a hostess gift this holiday season…or pack them into a box of gifts you’re sending cross country…or just eat them yourself when breaking out the Kitchenaid seems like too much work. I plead the 5th. While we didn’t try the macadamia nut cookies (Kyle’s allergies), but the chocolate chip (crispy) and oatmeal raisin (chewy) were excellent. Dipped into a cup of hot coffee (not that they needed to be dipped into coffee), I found myself with a delectable late-evening snack for a few nights until the cookies were gone. If you’re worried about allergies like I am, you can be assured that the cookies are packaged separately and each package has its own ingredient list (though you should know that all of the cookies are processed in a bakery that also processes tree nuts which is the standard disclaimer on most ingredient labels these days).
Here’s how to enter this giveaway:
- Earn 1 entry by leaving a comment in this post by answering this question: “What is your ONE most favorite cookie in the entire world?”
- Earn a 2nd entry by following me on Twitter (@smellslikehome) AND tweet this phrase word-for-word: “@smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)” THEN copy and paste your tweet into the comments of this post.
- Earn a 3rd entry by “Liking” Tate’s Bake Shop on Facebook. Leave a comment on this post letting me know that you’ve done this.
In addition to this giveaway, Tate’s is offering a 15% off coupon for purchases from their site until December 31, 2010 when you use the code “cookie” so if one of your 3 chances here don’t work out, make sure you hop over to the Tate’s website and treat yourself!
The rules:
- Enter by midnight Eastern on Sunday December 12th. One winner will be chosen using an internet random number generator and will be notified by email on Monday December 13th.
- Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.
Thank you to Tate’s Bake Shop for providing the cookbook and cookie gift package for this giveaway!
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Old-Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies
source: Kathleen King, Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup salted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup sour cream
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or line them with Silpat.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar till the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg. Mix it, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix it again. Add the sour cream and mix it till it is combined. Add the flour mixture and mix it until it is combined.
Drop the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheets 3 inches apart. (They do spread.) Bake the cookies for 15 minutes or until they are light brown. Cool them on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, and remove them to wire cooling racks to cool completely.
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Sugar Cookie Frosting
source: adapted from The Repressed Pastry Chef, as seen on Annie’s Eats
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp milk
Food coloring (optional)
Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla, salt, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the milk. Tint as desired with food coloring. Spread over the cookies, decorate (if desired), and serve. The frosting will set (but will not be hard) after about 15 minutes.
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My absolute favorite cookie in the world is “The Chewy” by Alton Brown – delicious, chewy chocolate chip!
My absolute favorite cookie in the whole world are Peanut Butter Kisses (the tiny peanut butter cookies with Hershey’s kisses stuck in the middle). My grandma used to make them every Christmas, and I’d eat as many as I could from the tray of Christmas cookies before they were all gone!
I also tweeted: http://twitter.com/tramplingrose
Pick an all time favorite cookie? Wow that’s hard. Ok, lets see, my absolutely favorite cookie is pumpkin chocolate chip. It is a recipe that has been passed down for 5 generations thus far (I have to have a baby before it can go any further haha).
I also liked Tate’s Bake Shop on Facebook.
My absolute favorite cookie – the classic chocolate chip. If I could only eat one cookie for the rest of my life, that would be it!
My favorite cookie would have to be a classic chocolate chip cookie. But not just any old chocolate chip cookie will do. I like a soft fluffy center with a little crisp around the edges. 🙂 Yum!
I love the way you gift wrapped your sugar cookies, by the way. Very nice presentation!
If I had to pick just ONE, I’d say snickerdoodles. 🙂
The presentation is very cute. My favorite cookies are monster cookies!
I love a recipe that my husband and I found from a B & B in California. It is the Sweet Dreams cookie from Foothill house . The cookie is a take off of the chocolate chip but kicked up with some other spices and then coated in powdered sugar.
I’m not a twitter pro, so I hope I did this right:
@srogers0809
Sarah
@smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)
That’s a tough question but I agree with the other posters– nothing better than a classic chocolate chip cookie– and I like the mini chocolate chips in mine too
I love frosted sugar cookies just like the ones at the top of this post!
Soft sugar cookies with frosting!
My favorite cookie in the whole world is peanut butter chocolate chip! Yum!
Chewy chocolate chip cookies win hands down!
My mom’s recipe for Christmas sugar cookies. It has a special ingredient and they are amazing! We bake and decorate them every year, usually on Christmas Eve or sometimes on Christmas Day 🙂
molasses spice cookies, Chris Kimball’s recipe!
and I’m a fan of Tate’s on Facebook!
actually, my favorite cookies are soft sugar cookies! the store bought kind–I have to try this recipe!!!
Plus I just “liked” Tate’s on Facebook! Please please pick meeeee!
My favorite cookie is a tiny walnut pie cookie that my mom makes. . .yummmmm
Latest: @smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!) less than 5 seconds ago
And FB “done”!
my favorite cookie is a half-baked chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven!
That’s tough, i really love peanut butter blossoms, but would love to try their gingerbread cookies!
My absolute favorite cookie is a nice, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie! I love them when they’re soft & chewy… num!
I ‘like’ Tate’s Bake Shop on fb! 🙂
I live one town over from Tate’s and I have no doubt in my mind that their chocolate chip cookies are my favorite cookies.
I am a fan of Tate’s on Facebook.
I like chocolate chip cheesecake cookies…yum!
rae1124(at)aol(dot)com
Follow on twitter and tweeted…
http://twitter.com/rae1124/status/13303576210182144
rae1124(at)aol(dot)com
I like Tate’s on facebook…
facebook.com/rae1124
rae1124(at)aol(dot)com
My ultimate fave is a soft chewy chocolate chip cookie!
Follow on twitter and tweet http://twitter.com/#!/SaraMama/status/13308198752616448
My hands down fave cookie “the chewy” chocolate chip cookie like Chips Ahoy and ABs!!
an old fashioned toll house cookie..
My very favorite cookie is a snickerdoodle 🙂
I liked Tate’s on Facebook.
My all time favorite cookies are Chocolate Chip cookies
i like tates on facebook (Tanya Riley)
Chocolate Chip with M&M’s!!
Can’t wait to try these cookies! I am still looking for my favorite sugar cookie recipe- maybe this will be it!
My favorite cookies are pumpkin chocolate chip- yum!
My favorite cookie is my raspberry thumbprint cookies. The cookie is so crisp yet delicate and the raspberry gives it just the right amount of flavor. Soo good!
I love a classic chocolate chip cookie – either really soft and chewy or crispy crunchy like Tate’s Chocolate Chip cookies, but the sugar cookie with peanut butter frosting sounds amazing. I think I will have to try that if I win the cookbook! I’d rather have a good cookie anytime over a cake or pastry.
also liked Tate’s on Facebook
Hard to choose, I guess Russian Tea Cakes with pecans, yum.
My most favorite cookie has to chewy chocolate chip cookies. And OREOS…yeah, oreos…
I also tweeted @ [email protected].
Oatmeal cookies are my very favorite!
I make these very thin, crispy cookies sandwiched with chocolate on the inside. So gooood.
My all time favorite cookies are super soft and chewy chocolate chip
those sugar cookies look so incredibly delish.
my favorite cookie has to be soft. i LOVE anything w/ PB, mint, and choc
Soft, Chewy Ginger cookies. I also love buttery sugar cookies which is why this recipe grabbed my attention, I can’t wait to try it.
My favoristist of all favorite cookies has to be………..my mom’s chocolate chip cookies. When she makes those they only last about 10 minutes, doesn’t matter how many she makes. They never last.
Oh my. In Richmond, there used to be a bakery (Dot’s) that made the very best butter spritz cookies with a drop of hard frosting. I cannot find the recipe anywhere and obsess about them a couple of times a year since I live over on the left coast now!
Do Girl Scout’s thin mints count as a cookie? I could eat a box in one sitting! They are so good. As for a homemade cookie, the chocolate chip cookie is hard to beat.
I love any cookie, but my favorite would have to be christmas wreath cookies made with marshmallows and corn flakes!
Warm from the oven chewy chocolate chip!
For years I would have said my grandmother’s shortbread cookies. . . but Martha’s chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies come a very close second.
Cinnamon sugar filled elephant ears are definitely my favorite. I just love the look of the swirl and the soft texture of these cookies.
My favorite cookie is chocolate chip preferably still warm from the oven
I am a Tate’s fan on facebook
My favorite cookie of all time would have to be my grandma’s molasses crinkles. I’ve never been able to make them quite as good!
melindarenee Melinda Novak
@smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)
I liked Tate’s Bake Shop on Facebook.
peanut butter blossoms<3
You can never go wrong with a good homemade chocolate chip cookie. I have a couple of recipes that I go back to time and time again.
I’m a fan of Tate’s Bake Shop on Facebook.
My favorite cookie is the good ‘ol classic chocolate chip. YUM.
I “liked” Tate’s Bake Shop on Facebook, too!
My retweet:
lynngeorge lynngeorge
@smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)
I love my chocolate chip cookies! M&M cookies come in at a close second!
I love soft and gooey chocolate chip cookies. They’re the best.
Chocolate chip…no snickerdoodles…no, chocolate chip.
I like Tate’s on FB already.
hands down…chewy chocolate chip cookies
My one, most FAVORITE cookie in the world is White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut cookies that I started making a few years ago. Just something about the wonderful taste and texture that gets me.
I follow on Twitter under @Berksgirl and tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/BerksGirl/status/13609293014114304
I like Tate’s Bakeshop on Facebook under Lisa B.
Soft pumpkin dark chocolate chip are my all time favorite!
…and I “like” Tate’s on facebook & now I really want to eat some cookies!!!
Picking just one favorite cookie is tough, but I think I’d have to go with melomakarona – Greek honey spiced cookies that I make every Christmas.
Those sugar cookies look delicious!
I love how “old fashioned” these cookies look–not too razzle dazzle, but just homemade goodness! My favorite cookie is oatmeal toffee. They’re wonderful!
I’m a fan of Tate’s on FB!
My favorite cookies are those buttery shortbread cookies!
I am a fan of Tate’s on Facebook!
I tweeted this giveaway!
frozenmangoo
@smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)
Chocolate chip cookies are the best!
Does choc chip cookie dough count? Any cookie warm from the oven is a winner in my book, especially if it involves PB.
My grandma makes the very best chocoalte chip and oatmeal cookies. They are perfect and stay soft for ages. She says for the chocolate chip she just follows the recipe on the Blue Bonnet box. If that is true (which it must be, because grandmas don’t lie) she must add something special. We are all convinced the love is what does it. 🙂
My boyfriend and I have been on the hunt to match a local sugar cookie as well and haven’t succeeded. Ill have to give this recipe a shot to see if it hits the spot (Im sure he’ll make the horrible sacrifice of taste testing them for me).
My favorite cookie has to be my dads chocolate chip though. They are perfect 🙂
I love Chocolate Chip Cookies. I also love cookies in general.
melodyj(at)gmail(dot)com
Hi, glad to find another great blog, as well as enter a great contest! I have liked Tate’s on FB, and the sugar cookies looks awesome. A big soft sugar cookie is one of my very favorites. Also, anything with chocolate, peanut butter, or cream cheese. (Or even all 3!)
Where did you find that cute tree cookie holder? Is it cardboard or tin, I can’t tell? I love it. One of my absolute favorite cookies are super soft and fat sugar cookies with frosting.
A few cookies pop immediately into my head, but the one I’m craving most right at this moment is a whole wheat lemon poppy seed cookie from Mollie Katzen’s “Enchanted Broccoli Forest.” So tasty.
I know exactly which grocery store cookies you are talking about! I have to buy them when I see them, so I try to avoid them! I’ve got to get this cookbook if it will save me from buying these cookies!
My most favorite cookie would be…..the shortbread cookies made by the cafeteria ladies in my middleschool!
Chocolate chip!
My favorite is Maple Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries instead of raisins and a maple glaze. mmmm
sugar cookies, yum!
Monster cookies….
I love any form of white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. My absolute favorite is the oatmeal cranberry white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. It’s crispy on the edges and so chewy in the middle. Yum!!
I “liked” Tate’s bakeshop on facebook. Thank you for the opportunity to win such a fabulous cookbook! Fingers crossed!
“What is your ONE most favorite cookie in the entire world?” Chocolate Chip!
@l123455 S.Lynn
@smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)
25 seconds ago via web
Didn’t know if you wanted the link or copy and paste what I tweeted! Here’s the link to my tweet 🙂
http://twitter.com/#!/l123455/status/14065981735309312
Sugar Cookie is my MOST FAVORITE EVER…
I liked Tates bakeshop on facebook!
i love gingerbread cookies!!!
following you on twitter and tweeted!!! @____kelsey
http://twitter.com/#!/____kelsey/status/14113778232721408
my favorite cookie is Mrs. Sklow’s butter cookies from a 200 year old recipe – so delicious!
I “liked” Tate’s on Facebook.
Fingers crossed
Okay, my one most favorite cookie ever… well, at least right NOW… is the Peanut Butter Bieber: big peanut butter cookie with a Reeses cup in the center (not in a mini muffin tin, in a full size one!). I made this kind of by accident last week (recipe on blog) and I love them!
I am following you on Twitter and tweeted: @smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)
I’m @pestochango 🙂
I’m also a fan of Tates on FB!
It is a hard choice, but I’d have to say my favorite type of cookie EVER is the pumpkin, oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies I make in the fall! So yummy!
My favorite cookie is an old chocolate chip cookie recipe that won “cookie of the year” in 1914. Yummmmm.
Here is a link to my tweet – http://twitter.com/#!/SheLikesRuffles/status/14144729058906112
@SheLikesRuffles @smellslikehome is giving away a Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook and cookie gift package – enter at http://tinyurl.com/24qc9d9 (Pls RT!)
I’m a fan of Tate’s Bake Shop on Facebook as well!
Ginger-mollasses. My mom makes them each xmas!
Chocloate Chip Cookies are my number one closly followe by all kinds of cookies.
melodyj(at)gmail(dot)com
A French butter cookie recipe that I got from a friend at a cookie party.
What size are the balls of dough that you plae on the cookie sheet. A tablespoon? It doesn’t say how how much.
Thanks.
Maybe 2 tablespoons – it’s been a while since I’ve made them but go with the size you would typically make chocolate chip cookies.
Oatmeal, walnut with coconut. My friends rave about them!