Credit: Serious Eats / Sarah Jane Sanders

Why It Works

Adding a cold egg chills the dough which makes it easier to handle and keeps it from spreading too much in the oven.

Baking until the edges are starting to turn golden but the centers are still steamy yields soft, chewy cookies.

A topping of vanilla sugar adds a nice crunch and an alluring aroma of fresh vanilla bean.

Sugar cookies are the plush, pillowy hotel beds of dessert: comforting, soft, and warm. Every time I sink into one, I wonder: Why don’t I do this more often?

I figure it’s because I’m so easily enthralled by the heavy hitters (brown butter, brown sugar, chocolate, toffee, toasted pecans...) that I forget how sublime the basics can be. Sugar cookies are a celebration of simple ingredients, handled with care.…