Sugar Cookies

Jen recently posted something about secret recipes and it got me thinking. I would consider my sugar cookies my secret recipe, but after thinking about it I don't like the idea of the a secret recipe. The idea of cooking is to share so here is my secret recipe.

Sugar Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. powered sugar
2 sticks butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine both sugars and butter. Beat until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. On low speed, add the eggs one at a time then add vanilla extract. Slowly add the salt, flour, and baking soda, stirring until just combined. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for 30 minutes. Spoon the chilled dough in tablespoon sized balls onto a dark cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. (I've found that the cookies spread out less on a darker cookie sheets.) Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the cookies from the sheet and cool on a rack. Cookies will be soft but will harden as they cool. When fully cooled, the edges will be crunchy but the centers will be soft.

Note: this recipe does not work well if you want to roll the cookies out and cut them into shapes. It also would not work well in a cookies press.