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National Sugar Cookie Day

Food · July 9

A food day for the sugar cookie, the simple butter, sugar and flour cookie baked soft or crisp, rolled, cut and often decorated.

National Sugar Cookie Day falls on Friday, July 9, 2027. That is 255 days away.

Butter, sugar, flour, eggs and a little vanilla. That short list is most of a sugar cookie, and it explains why the cookie shows up in so many kitchens. Nothing in it is hard to find, and the dough is forgiving enough for a first baker.

The same basic dough goes two ways. Drop it in rounds, maybe rolled in coarse sugar, and it bakes into a soft, pale cookie with slightly crackled edges. Chill it, roll it flat and cut it into shapes, and it becomes a sturdy, crisp canvas for icing. Bakers argue about which version is the real one. Both are.

Decorating is where many people spend their time. Some use a glossy royal icing that dries hard, others a soft buttercream spread with a knife, and plenty stop at a shake of colored sprinkles before baking. The plain cookie tastes mostly of butter and vanilla, so a little almond extract or lemon zest changes it more than you might expect.

Chilling the dough before rolling keeps cut shapes from spreading in the oven, which is why recipes so often ask you to wait an hour before anything fun happens. Pulling the tray while the edges are barely golden keeps the centers tender.

Ways to celebrate

• Bake a batch of drop sugar cookies rolled in coarse sugar.
• Try adding lemon zest or almond extract to a basic dough.
• Decorate cut-out cookies with icing and sprinkles alongside friends or family.
• Share a plate of sugar cookies with a neighbor or coworker.
• Compare a soft sugar cookie and a crisp one side by side.

Dates

All national days on July 9

Also on July 9

• National French Fry Day
• Collector Car Appreciation Day
• National Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Omelet Day
• Fashion Day

Categories: Food days