For a long time, I thought sugar cookies were sort of pointless. Where were the chocolate chunks? The toasted pecans? The sprinkles? I’d even take some dried fruit, if all else failed. But a plain sugar cookie with nothing in it? That just seemed…boring. 

 

But sometimes the simplest foods are the best foods. Think about a crispy-skinned roast chicken, or a rustic apple tart, or a bowl of fresh tomato-basil soup. They are not particularly innovative, but they are classic, and undeniably delicious. 

 

A good sugar cookie is the same. It should be crispy around the edges and tender and slightly chewy at the center. It should taste predominantly of butter and vanilla, and it should be dusted with a thin layer of sugar that shakes off as you bite into it, so you have to brush off your shirt.

 

 

The best sugar cookie I ever had was one I baked myself, last year, using a recipe from the absolutely fantastic cookbook One Bowl Baking by Yvonne Ruperti.  Yvonne is a former editor at America’s Test Kitchen, so she really knows her stuff. I’ve made a bunch of the recipes (the chocolate-hazelnut brownie cupcakes, the tiny lemon sorbet cake, the chocolate cashew cookies) and they have all worked beautifully, and they really are one-bowl. It sounds like I’m being paid to write this, but I swear I’m not! I just honestly love the book and use it all the time. 

 

I made those sugar cookies again last week, but this time I couldn’t resist putting my own spin on them. First, I browned the butter to add toasty, nutty flavors. Then I threw in a few big pinches of orange zest to brighten things up with a little hint of citrus. Did I stray too far from “simple and unadorned”? I don’t think so. It’s not like I added M&Ms or crumbled bacon. These are still  humble orange and brown butter sugar cookies. But trust me, on a crisp fall afternoon, with a mug of tea–or better yet, hot cider–you won’t want anything else.