Amish Sugar Cookies with Sour Cream Icing

First of all, because we’re so close to Christmas and because of SO many requests, we’ve put together a list of stocking stuffers for the guys in your life! So head over there and check it out if you’re still looking, but don’t forget to come back because you need these cookies.

So two summers ago, we posted a recipe for Dirty Diet Coke, a little concoction I’d seen floating around the internet and I added an extra twist of deliciousness (half and half) that I had experienced at Sonic once upon a time. In fact, I have kind of a funny story about how I came to put half and half in Diet Coke: a few years ago, Sonic was really promoting some Dr. Pepper drink combo with vanilla, cherry, and cream. They stopped promoting it, and about a year later, I went back and ordered a drink with cream. They sounded confused. I told them, “You know, like you guys did awhile back with the Dr. Pepper and the vanilla and the cherry.” Well. I got my drink and they had put that gross whipped topping on top of my drink. It floated. It didn’t melt. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t actually fit for human consumption. So that was the last time for that.

Anyway.

Turns out the Dirty Diet Coke has ambiguous origins–currently, it can be found at these little drink and cookie shops in Utah called Swig, but there’s a loyal core of followers that believe it originated elsewhere. I dunno. I live 1500 miles away, so I’m kind of out of the loop.

So while we were in Utah last summer, we decided to finally visit the infamous Swig and get the infamous Dirty Diet Coke and the infamous pink-frosted sugar cookie. And it was good–definitely different from your typical rolled and refrigerated and cut sugar cookie.

There are lots of Swig sugar cookie knock-offs out there in the blogosphere and as I started looking at them, I realized that I knew that recipe. It came from my all-time favorite cookbook, The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (which is currently out of print, but you can find used copies. I bought the updated version and I was not quite as impressed.) There are some variations out there, but they have a few things in common, the most significant being using a combination of butter and cooking oil, a combination of sugar and powdered sugar, using cream of tartar, and dropping the cookies (instead of rolling them) and then pressing them with a glass dipped in sugar. If any of those things aren’t your thing, I would stick with traditional sugar cookies. Also, both the cookies and the frosting are on the salty side. That’s just how they are.

So I remembered these because I used to make them all time when I was in college. I made them all the time because I had a) no time and b) no money. So when I could make tons of cookies with half the butter of a regular recipe, and no rolling, chilling, and cutting were involved, I was a huge fan.

When I remade these the first time, I knew they weren’t really the Swig cookie–they were much lighter, crispier, and more delicate (the Swig cookie was chewy and crinkly; I suspect they use more butter and flour). When I remade them, I added more flour, which didn’t regret; the dough as the recipe was written was more like a batter and I’m willing to bet those at really high altitudes would have had a disaster on their hands. I also chilled the dough, which isn’t necessary, but it helps prevent spreading, especially those later batches that seem to flatten out more.

So, long story short: these aren’t Swig knockoff cookies, but they’re definitely in the same family. However, they’re delicious and addictive and biting into a cold one is pretty spectacular.

You’re going to need butter, vegetable oil, sugar, powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, table salt, and cream of tartar.

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick mats and set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and oil at medium speed until blended. Gradually add 1 cup sugar and powdered sugar, beating well. Add in eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter mixture, beating at low speed until combined. If desired, chill for 30-60 minutes.

Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookies out onto the pan.

Gently press the bottom of a smooth glass onto the bottom of one of the dough balls, then press in the 1/2 cup of sugar,

then press back onto the first cookie.

After the first time, you can just dip the glass in the sugar and press it into the next cookie (it needs the moisture from the first cookie to stick to the glass.)

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until very lightly brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat the ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Add food coloring as desired.

When the cookies are cool, spoon about 1 teaspoon of icing on top of each cookie and spread it with the back of a spoon. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes about 42 cookies.

Remember we have these darling tags to use on all of your goodies this season!

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