Sugar cookies are versatile, easy to make and are perhaps the most popular cookie on the planet! The first sugar cookie recipe can be traced back to the mid 18th century and has gone through a number of transformations over the years. The Ingredients Make The Difference You would think that one recipe is rather close in ingredients and preparation to another. However, nothing could be farther from the truth and is the reason why many people stick with their "tried and true" cookie recipe that was handed down from grandma. It can be quite mind-boggling sifting through hundreds of recipes for sugar cookies on the internet or even through your cookbooks. The primary ingredient, sugar, is not cut and dried when it comes to a sugar cookie recipe. You could use the regular granulated white sugar; however there are super fine granulated organic sugar versions that could be incorporated into a recipe and even brown sugar, a southern favorite. The flavoring extract often used in a sugar cookie recipe is vanilla, but you could substitute it for almond extract or even butter extract for a totally new taste. Even the binding part (the ingredients that make the flour and sugar stick together) of any cookie recipe can be vastly different. Some recipes use lard while other recipes use vegetable shortening, butter or a combination of all of them. Butter is typically used with most recipes to give the cookie a nice flavor. If the sugar cookie recipe calls for lard in addition to the butter, you can expect the cookie to be crisp and delightfully crumby. However, if the recipe uses vegetable shortening with the butter, you can expect a crisp, yet chewy cookie instead. Your Recipe Options Practically everyone has had a sugar cookie in some form or another. Therefore, by deciding the type of sugar cookie you want, you could greatly reduce the number of recipes you may weed through in finding just the right one. For instance, there are sugar cookie recipes for: * Cut-outs * Drop cookies * Refrigerator cookies * Cookies from a mold or press A drop sugar cookie recipe is rather quick and easy with you just "dropping" the dough by spoonfuls on a baking sheet. A refrigerator cookie involves you refrigerating the dough, sometimes rolling it into a log shape so that it is easy to cut slices for baking. Cookie cutouts involve rolling out the dough onto a floured cutting board and using cookie cutters to make shapes. With a press or mold, the dough is conformed into a certain shape. The bottom line is that each recipe will produce a slightly different cookie. The only thing that should always stay the same is how you bake it. Always use a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper covering it as this not only keeps cookies from sticking, but you will rarely have a problem with burning your cookies. Sugar cookies are truly one of the best. They also come with more recipe options that you might have first imagined. Use the guidelines above to find the sugar cookie recipe that is right for you.