Christmas Baking
No Butter Sugar Cookies: Yogurt and Cornstarch Keep These Oil-Based Christmas Stars Soft for 2 Weeks
Tender no butter sugar cookies made with oil, yogurt and cornstarch, cut into stars and coated in sugar.
Instructions
Prepare the base. Crack the whole egg into a bowl and add the sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Whisk well until combined.
Add the liquids. Pour in the oil and whisk again. Then stir in the yogurt, which keeps the cookies from turning hard.
Thicken the mixture. Add the cornstarch and whisk until smooth with no lumps.
Make the dough. Sift the flour with the baking powder into the liquid. Stir first with a spatula, then by hand in the bowl. Knead until you have a smooth, non-sticky dough that feels like modeling clay.
Roll it out. Transfer the dough to your work surface (if the consistency is right, you do not need extra flour). Roll it to about 1/8 to 3/16 inch (3-5 mm).
Cut and coat. Cut out stars with a cutter. Press each cookie on one side into the bowl of granulated sugar so a crisp layer sticks to the surface.
Bake until lightly golden. Place the stars on a baking sheet lined with parchment, sugar side up. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for about 12-15 minutes. Careful: they must be only lightly golden, not brown!
- Do not skip the cornstarch. Bake only until lightly golden; a longer bake dries the cookies out. Store in a sealed container for about 2 weeks.
- Variations: cocoa dough, or a coating of ground nuts with cinnamon.