Old-Fashioned Amish Sugar Cookies

Old-Fashioned Amish Sugar Cookies are just what you need with your glass of milk! A perfect treat for any occasion.

I decked out these melt in your mouth Amish sugar cookies in red and green sprinkles for the holidays, but they’re just as delicious rolled in simple granulated sugar or any kind of sprinkles your heart desires!

Old-Fashioned Amish Sugar Cookies

I shared a Facebook teaser a couple weeks ago: I’ve unearthed a closely guarded secret recipe for Helen Rudesill’s signature Amish Sugar Cookies. Stay tuned for the big reveal in a few weeks, but you can sample AND get the recipe by attending the Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis‘ November 29 concert featuring the Escher String Quartet!

A friend of mine had been on the hunt for this amazing, melt in your mouth old-fashioned Amish sugar cookie recipe for years. It was from an old church cookbook which is totally out of circulation. Through some sleuthing, she was able to obtain said recipe and use it to promote an upcoming concert. And in exchange for a little social media push, I was given the recipe to test!

Tips for Making Amish Sugar Cookies

My family loves the classic, frosted, cut out sugar cookies for the holidays. These are just as delicious, but with a totally different texture.

Not chewy like my frosted cookies, nor “short” like the classic shortbread cookies, but uniquely wonderful.  Despite the lack of frosting, they got rave reviews from the troops. If you’re looking for a new, classic cookie to bake, give these Old-Fashioned Amish Sugar Cookies a try!

• Besides butter, these old fashioned sugar cookies have a cup of oil as one of the ingredients. I used canola oil, but any mild vegetable oil would work.
• An overnight chilling helps the flavors meld and the gluten settle. Don’t try to bake them without chilling first.

• I used a Cookie Scoop so that all the cookies would be the same size, then rolled the dough into balls.
• I did not need to dip the glass into oil when I rolled the cookies in sprinkles, but definitely do that when pressing down on the plain cookies.
• Find a flat bottomed glass to to the pressing.

• The key is to press the cookies just until the edges start to separate slightly. The plain ones above were pressed too thin. I had 5 dozen to practice on!
• Like with most of my cookies, I baked these on Half Sheet Pans lined with Parchment Paper Baking Sheets.

And for tips on how to make the classic roll out Christmas sugar cookies, check out this post on How to Make Sugar Cookies.

More Old-Fashioned Recipes You’ll Love:

• Old Fashioned Fruit Cocktail Cake from Southern Plate
• Old Fashioned Pumpkin Roll from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies from Saving Room for Dessert
• Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Old Fashioned Buttermilk Pie from Bless This Mess

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Old-Fashioned Amish Sugar Cookies

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★★★★★

5 from 16 reviews

These Amish Sugar Cookies are the comforting, delicious cookies your grandmother used to bake!

• Author: Liz Berg
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes
• Total Time: 32 minutes
• Yield: 5 dozen
• Category: Dessert, Cookies
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American, Amish

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Mix together the sugar, powdered sugar, butter and vegetable oil. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In another bowl, whisk together, the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture until it’s all incorporated.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill a few hours or overnight.

To make, line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 325º. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheets.

With a flat bottom glass, first dip the glass in vegetable oil, then sugar before flattening each dough ball. Press down just until the edges separate slightly. Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar if desired.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Notes

For more festive cookies, roll dough balls in colored sugar or sprinkles, press with a glass and bake as directed.