Swig sugar Cookies

SWIG  SUGAR COOKIES 

Update** October 2013

After making dozens of batches of this recipe for the last five months, I've altered the recipe again.

I will enter the updates in RED below. Trisha, a reader suggested (after trying to eat dairy-free for a month) to try substituting shortening instead of butter to get the desired crunch, and crumbly fall apart texture in the original Swig cookie. I tried and she is absolutely right! I still liked the flavor of half butter and half shortening, so I still use part butter in my cookies. Thanks for leaving a comment Trisha!

(Almost) Swig Sugar Cookies

A Bountiful Kitchen

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dough:

1/2 cup butter (1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup Butter Flavor or Regular Crisco)

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional) 

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

sugar 

frosting:

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon sour cream

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

dash of salt

1 drop red food coloring

1-2 tablespoons milk**

Preheat oven to 325 convection or 350 regular bake.

Take butter out of refrigerator and microwave for about 15 seconds. Place butter, shortening and cold sour cream in a mixing bowl. Mix for about one minute. Add sugar and vanilla, mix until smooth. Add all dry ingredients at once. Mix just until flour disappears and the mixture comes together in a ball of dough, about 1-2 minutes on very low speed. 

Spray the cookie scoop with a little cooking spray. Scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet. I use either a 1 3/4 inch or a 2 inch scoop. A two inch scoop will produce a cookie similar in size to the Swig cookie. If you don't have a cookie scoop, roll the dough into a ball about the size of a golf ball. 

Place about 1/4 cup sugar into a small bowl. 

Flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar (press the bottom of the glass against the cookie first, then dip it in the sugar so the sugar will stick) . Press the cookies so they are flattened a bit, twisting the glass as you press to produce a jagged edge. 

Bake in oven for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly golden and cookies are slightly firm to the touch. Remove from oven, let cool. Place the cookies in the fridge and chill. 

Prepare the frosting:

Beat together the butter, sour cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. When all ingredients are incorporated, add the drop of food coloring and milk if the frosting needs to be thinned. 

Frost after the cookies are completely chilled. 

Makes about 14 small or 8-10 large cookies.

Tips and (surprise) a few more comments:

-*If you want the cookies to taste more like the Swig cookies make this adjustment to the dough:

 omit the vanilla and reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup. I prefer the cookies to be a bit sweeter, so I liked 3/4 cup of sugar in the dough.

-I like the cookies made with about 1 teaspoon of almond extract in the dough, along with the 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

-**The Swig cookie is frosted with quite a thin layer of frosting. I prefer my frosting to be a bit thicker. If you want to frost the cookie with a thinner frosting, add about 3-4 tablespoons of milk to the frosting.

 -The bit of crunch on the edge of the Swig cookie could be from the baking method, or from cream of tarter substituted for the baking powder. Cream of tarter adds a bit of a crunch, but also a hint of tang, which I didn't detect in the Swig cookie. In one of my test batches, I tried 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter along with 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, and thought the cookie was too tangy, not at all like the Swig cookie. ** See update above recipe on 10/2013

-This cookie stays quite well in the fridge for about a week if kept in an air tight container.