Giant chewy sugar cookies

Happy February!  What a great weekend -- lots of friends, family, and cooking, and I now have digital cable (welcome to 2006, Katy).  The real awesomeness of this last part is the plethora of free workout videos available, which means I can switch up my routines when working out while baking :)  I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous.  But trust me, do it sometime and try and tell me it hasn't changed your life.  Ha!

In keeping with one my resolutions for this year (to start making/testing my way through the giant folder of recipes I have saved), I pulled out this one for the ultimate chewy sugar cookie.  If you recall, I have a favorite recipe for firmer cut-out sugar cookies, but I've been looking for a chewy counterpart... and one that is a bit less time-consuming with the parchment paper, rolling, chilling, more parchment paper, more rolling, and more chilling.  This recipe is so easy!  (I'm talking to you, dear friend in a tiny NYC apartment who wanted an easy and chewy sugar cookie with as little prep as possible!)  And the results are so good, I bet you'll never again dream of those awful flavorless fluffy and over-iced excuses for sugar cookies from the grocery store. 

Look at those cookies!  And, truth be told, they are even bigger than they look here, but I didn't want to get my hand too close to the very hot cookie sheet.  In all honesty, they are probably the size of a softball.  And sooooooo chewy.  I tried to take a picture of me bending (yes, bending, not breaking) a cookie in my hand later that night but I was too busy chewing and rejoicing to get a clear picture.  Woops.  Just make them for yourselves and see :) 


Giant Chewy Sugar Cookies
(from Martha Stewart online)
-makes 18 "giant" or probably 24 regular sized cookies

2 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F with racks in upper third and lower third of oven.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and powder.  Set aside.

In large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Add egg and vanilla, mix well until combined.  With mixer on low speed, slowly add half of the flour mixture, mixing until incorporated.  Add sour cream, mix, and finally the other half of the flour mixture.  Mix until contents are smooth.

Using spoons (or an ice cream scooper), scoop mounds of dough just bigger than the size of golf balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 3-4 inches apart.  (I fit 6 on a quarter cookie sheet, as seen below and wouldn't recommend any more.  They grow!)  **If you'd like smaller cookies, by all means, go for it.  Just watch the baking time because 15 minutes will probably be enough.** Sprinkle lightly with sugar or a pretty colored sanding sugar if you like.  

Bake cookies 10 minutes, rotate sheets (top goes to bottom, bottom to top, and turning sheets as well) until edges of cookies are just firm and tops are barely beginning to brown, 20 to 25 minutes.  Using spatula, transfer cookies to cooling rack.  Store in a sealed container for up to a week.  If they fall prey to the overly dry air in your place, put a piece of bread in with the cookies and after a few hours, the cookies will be extra chewy again.  The bread?  Not so much.