CLEVELAND, Oh -- Sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. By themselves, these ingredients can be found as the foundation of infinite recipes. Put them together and they create one of the most traditional, well-known and beloved cookies of all time: The sugar cookie.
The sugar cookie is still one of the simplest cookies to make. It traces its roots as far back to 7th century Persia and the dawn of the cultivation of sugar cane. In the United States, sugar cookies became popular in the 1700s when German Protestant settlers around Nazareth, Pa., created a cookie which became known as the Nazareth cookie. It would be adopted as the state cookie of Pennsylvania in 2001.
National Sugar Cookie Day is celebrated every July 9. Given that sugar cookies are a staple at Christmas time, it is hard to imagine why the “holiday” landed in mid-summer, when families may be reluctant to heat up their ovens to whip up a batch to celebrate.
Rather than stress your air conditioning, why not pick up a dozen -- or two -- the next time you are at your favorite grocer or big-box store? Not sure which store offers up that traditional flavor and texture from your childhood? cleveland.com Best of reporters Yadi Rodriguez and Brenda Cain taste-tested 14 varieties from local grocery outlets and have ranked them below to help you know where to find the sugar cookie of your dreams.
No. 14 Target
No. 14 Target Logo sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $1.99
Units: Sold Individually
Our thoughts: This cookie did not hit the mark with us! Hard, dry, crumbly and tasteless, you’ll likely risk a trip to the dentist if you bite into these cookies. The ever-so-slight Nilla Wafer taste is not worth risking your bridgework. While the logo design is cute, don’t fall for this marketing ploy. Available in different designs.
No. 13 Heinen’s - Fall sprinkles
No. 13 Heinen's Fall Sprinkle sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $10.99
Units: Sold by the pound
Our thoughts: These are more shortbread than sugar cookie: dry and bland and lacking any sweetness. The amount of sprinkles on top was inconsistent, as well.
No. 12 Target - Iced
No. 12 Target - Iced sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $3.49
Units: Pack of 18
Our thoughts: Any sweetness in this cookie comes from the icing and the sprinkles on top. You may want to save these for dunking in your morning coffee or afternoon tea. Alone they are hard and dry and crumble when you bite into them.
No. 11 Heinen’s - “Spritz” Fall Sprinkle
No. 11 Heinen’s - “spritz” Fall Sprinkle sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $10.99
Units: Sold by the pound
Our thoughts: Yet, another miss. The dry, shortbread consistency lacks any of the sweetness promised in a sugar cookie.
No. 10 Meijer - Sugar Cut-out
No. 10 Meijer - sugar cut-out cookies - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $3.49
Units: Pack of 12
Our thoughts: These cookies are thin and crisp and offer a hint of that traditional sugar cookie taste we all know and love, but also offer a slight artificial after-taste.
No. 9 Walmart - Classic
No. 9 Walmart classic sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $1.98
Units: Pack of 12
Our thoughts: This classic cookie will remind you of the sugar cookies grandma used to make. Rolled in sugar and then baked, the dough has a firm texture -- that was softer than the other cookies above -- and has a slight tinge of lemon flavoring. It lives up to its “sugar” cookie name by delivering a strong punch of sweetness.
No. 8 Giant Eagle - Sugar Cut-out
No. 8 Giant Eagle - sugar cut-out cookies - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $4.99
Units: Pack of 10
Our thoughts: Although heavily crusted in brightly colored sugars, this cookie is not as sweet as you would expect, although the coating does add to a pleasing crispness of the cookie. Visually appealing, it cannot hide the dryness or the bland flavor of the cookie.
No. 7 Whole Foods
No. 7 Whole Foods sugar cookies - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $11.99
Units: Sold by the pound
Our thoughts: Whole Foods gives you multiple cute, cut-out designs to choose from when shopping for sugar cookies. Nicely coated in sugar, they are more butter cookie than sugar, and not as sweet as one would expect, though they do have a pleasing crunchy texture that is not dry.
No. 6 Walmart - Marketside - Decadent Pearl
No. 6 Walmart - Marketside - Decadent Pearl sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $4.98
Units: Pack of 6
Our thoughts: These super-large grains of sugar make this cookie’s old-fashioned home-baked texture and flavor super-sweet. The cookie is also extremely soft and tends to fall apart when you pick it up, so have a napkin or plate ready or you may miss out on some of its goodness.
No. 5 Acme - Soft Sugar
No. 5 Acme - soft sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $5.29
Units: Pack of 8
Our thoughts: We are getting closer to the old-fashioned drop cookies grandma used to make. Soft and pillow-y, this larger-than-most cookie will have you craving a glass of milk to cut the sweetness of the granulated sugar coating. Still, a good solid cookie.
No. 4 Meijer - Ultimate Sugar
No. 4 Meijer - Ultimate sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $3.49
Units: Pack of 12
Our thoughts: Mejier’s version of the sugar cookie doesn’t have lots of the expected sugar atop. Instead it offers “little pockets of sugar” inside the cookie. While it is not as sweet as some of the others, there is no mistaking what kind of cookie you are biting into. Plenty of homemade taste.
No. 3 Fresh Thyme
No. 3 Fresh Thyme sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $3.99
Units: Pack of 12
Our thoughts: This may be where they got the expression “how the cookie crumbles,” with its super soft texture does tend to fall to pieces when you pick it up. Still, it is worth retrieving the chunks that fall to the table. The thickness of the cookie is reminiscent of a snickerdoodle, and the flavor does lend itself to more lemon than sugar, but a nice bite nonetheless.
No. 2 Dave’s
No. 2 Dave’s own sugar cookies - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $5.99
Units: Pack of 12
Our thoughts: Soft and chewy with just a hint of crispness at the edges, this cookie is a delicious sweet bite without being overpowering. It approaches the taste and texture of the homemade cookies you knew as a child.
No. 1 Giant Eagle - Classic
No. 1 Giant Eagle - classic sugar cookie - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Price: $3.98
Units: Pack of 12
Our thoughts: Despite the lack of consistency in the sugar sprinkles department -- some cookies in the package were heavily crusted, while others had none -- perhaps this was intentional to offer something for everyone. This is the sugar cookie you crave. Soft and chewy with crisp edges and a classic old-fashioned flavor with vanilla undertones, this cookie is the closest you will find to homemade without baking them yourself.
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July 09, 2021 at 05:03PM
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