NATIONAL SUGAR COOKIE DAY

NATIONAL SUGAR COOKIE DAY July 9

Each year on July 9 we honor the ever-popular and delicious sugar cookie on National Sugar Cookie Day. Whether you love your cookie plain or decorated, sugar cookies are a sweet addition to our snack list.

#NationalSugarCookieDay

The sugar cookie is believed to have originated in the mid-1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. German Protestant settlers created a round, crumbly and buttery cookie that came to be known as the Nazareth Cookie.

A holiday favorite and very easy to make, sugar cookies disappear quickly once they come out of the oven. Most sugar cookies include sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and either baking powder or baking soda. While most people have the ingredients on hand at all times, some of the ingredients should be fresh for the best outcome. Children enjoy baking and decorating anytime someone makes a batch of sugar cookies.

Types of Sugar Cookies

  • Cut-out Cookies:

    Crisp, sturdy dough designed to hold its shape perfectly under a cookie cutter. Cut-out cookies are ideal for royal icing.

  • Drop Sugar Cookies:

    A softer dough scooped directly onto the pan, often rolled in granulated or colored sugar before baking for a crinkly, rustic top.

  • Slice-and-Bake:

    Dough rolled into a log, chilled, and sliced into perfect rounds. Slice-and-Bake cookies are great for adding fun color swirls inside the dough.

Today, sugar cookie making and decorating has become an art form for kids and adults alike. Starting with the shape of the cookie, the dough is formed with either a cookie cutter or other methods of cutting and shaping the dough. Once the cookie is baked, the cookie artist adds colored frosting or icing. Sprinkles, edible glitter, colored sugars, and additional details may be added. Some cookies receive so much detail, it's almost a shame to eat them.

  1. While making some delicious and beautiful sugar cookies, marvel at the skill of bakers who have mastered their craft. Learn some of their tips and tricks, or share your own.

  2. Gather friends, bake a large batch of plain cut-out cookies, and set up a "topping bar" with various icings, sprinkles, and edible glitter.

  3. Have neighbors or coworkers bake their favorite variation of a sugar cookie and swap them.

  4. Don't forget to give a shout-out to your favorite baker and let them know you appreciate their delicious cookies. Post on social media using #NationalSugarCookieDay.

National Day Calendar is researching the origins of this cookie holiday. However, the calendar is full of cookie celebrations! Won't you check them out.

3 Fun Facts About Sugar Cookies

  1. Traditional Amish sugar cookies often use oil in addition to butter, which gives them a distinctively soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

  2. The largest sugar cookie ever recorded was baked in 2003, measuring over 100 feet in diameter and weighing over 40,000 pounds!

  3. Using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar in some recipes yields a softer, denser cookie because it contains a touch of cornstarch.