Thick and Chewy Sugar Cookies

Lara and I have been on the search for the perfect sugar cookie for some time now. I've tried many different recipes, and while they are all tasty, none of them could deliver the cookie of my dreams. The real problem with all of these recipes wasn't the taste, they all taste like butter and sugar, nothing wrong there, but what was missing was the perfect texture. I like my sugar cookies to be thick and fat, something you can really sink your teeth into, chewy and dense. Not an airy, light and crispy sugar cookie, but that seemed to be all that I could find.

In desperation Lara and I turned to the chowhound forums to see if anyone out there in cyberspace had the answer. There were several people who had ideas for the cookie we were looking for. This recipe was the first one we turned to, and I am glad that we did. They turned out deliciously!! Pretty much exactly what I wanted. They were thick and chewy and so buttery and sweet, with a hint of salt, the perfect combination.

For the first batch of these cookies I just shaped the dough into balls and baked them as is. They turned out fine, but since they didn't spread AT ALL they looked kind of funny, like little buttery rocks. For the subsequent batches then, I pressed the dough down to flattened the cookies a little before baking. This worked great and they turned out wonderfully. This one was a smashing success, it was everything I was looking for in a sugar cookie.

Thick and Chewy Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Emme, via Chowhound
Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup (250 g) granulated sugar 
• 2 sticks (225 g) butter, melted
• 3 egg yolks (large)
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (127 g) bread flour
• 1/4 cup (20 g) nonfat dry milk powder
• 1/4 cup (30-35 g) cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla. 

In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Add to the wet mixture and mix until combined. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour. 

Roll the dough between your hands, forming them into smooth balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar. Press down each ball of dough with your hand, making them into your desired size cookie (they won't spread much during baking, so don't expect them to change shape much after this). 

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until almost done, then pull them out and let them finish baking and set  on the baking sheet (5-10 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.