Everyone has a favorite sugar cookie. Some prefer the thin and crunchy ones while others go for the soft and chewy type. I enjoy both styles but know that Joe favors the thin and crunchy kind. Being that he is my biggest fan, I initially decided to remove soft and chewy sugar cookies from the ‘twelve days of cookies’ list and stick with traditional cutouts.

Luckily, Joe’s sister, Kati, has a December birthday. While we were wrapping her gift, I remembered that she loves Funfetti flavored desserts. This presented me with the perfect excuse to add soft and chewy sugar cookies to the list and surprise Kati. Instead of Funfetti, I opted to use colored nonpareils to give these sugar cookies a confetti look.

These cookies are extremely addictive and taste like sweet vanilla cake batter. The colored nonpareils can be substituted for sprinkles or omitted altogether.

I used a large ice cream scoop to easily transfer the dough to a cookie sheet.

confetti sugar cookies

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

Rearrange the oven racks so that one is in the upper third, and one is in the lower third. Preheat oven to 350˚ (conventional).

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set this “flour” mixture aside.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy for roughly two to four minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until combined.

Using low speed, add half of the flour mixture to the beaten sugar mixture, alternating sour cream and the remaining half of flour. Mix just until smooth.

If using nonpareils for a confetti look, lightly fold them into the batter by hand. (These do not impact the overall taste or quality.)

Drop 3-tablespoon-sized mounds of dough, 3-4 inches apart, on two ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are just firm and top is barely beginning to brown. Rotate the sheets half way through (front to back/top to bottom). Cool sheets on rack.

Adapted from Martha Stewart.