I Made the Sugar Cookie I Actually Want to Eat

The priority during this process was intentional quality control over volume. Many people seem to rush through making sugar cookies like the deadline is this afternoon, focusing on cranking out a thousand to check them off the list. This compromises attention to detail. I needed a smaller batch, ensuring full focus on the structural and flavor profile.

Manual Research

With clarity for the recipe I wanted, or potentially needed to develop, I sought out a triple vanilla roll-out sugar cookie recipe to begin assessing if it would be a fit for my goals. I found a reference recipe (Eat Good at Home's Triple Vanilla Sugar Cookies) that I planned to use as a starting point.

Adjustments I Wanted to Make

I immediately flagged several areas for alteration based on my desired flavor and structural outcomes:

• Flavor Mandate: The vanilla flavor profile of the referenced recipe was engineered using vanilla beans, vanilla extract, and vanilla infused sugar. I wanted three distinct sources for layered complexity - with one major change from the reference recipe:
• • Vanilla-Infused Granulated Sugar: A subtle side character to build foundation. [Included in reference recipe]
  • Pure Vanilla Extract: The star, providing the prominent vanilla flavor everyone knows. [Included in reference recipe]
  • Clear (Imitation) Extract: The observable change & the technical underdog. This ensures a complex, indiscernible flavor experience that helps build depth you might never be able to put your finger on. [Not included in reference recipe]

I also needed to address structural integrity and balance:

• Baking Soda/Leavening: Every time I see a "no-spread" recipe that includes baking soda, I question it. Baking soda is usually there to help the cookie spread out. If the goal is a perfectly clean, sharp edge, I was taking the leavening out completely.
• Flavor Balance (Salt): The reference recipe had no salt. This is an absolute must for me. I always use unsalted butter and add salt because without it, the flavor would taste thin, flat, and unbalanced. Salt is essential for making all the other flavors brighter and more obvious.
• Almond Extract: My first reaction was to remove the almond extract entirely, since I wanted the complexity to come from the vanilla layering. Yet, for an added layer of depth, I decided to keep a very small amount—almost indiscernible—just to amp up the overall experience.

• Timing: I do not typically make recipes that take days. An overnight wait time was the maximum I had the patience for. This would be the maximum time I would use to help infuse the dough with flavor, increase the hydration of the flour (which aids in tenderness), and be ready to bake.
• Batch Size: Intentionally slowing down and making a smaller batch means I can give my full attention to this size of batch.

Questions I Had Around the Reference Recipe

• Eggs in the Recipe: The reference recipe listed two eggs instead of one. For the amount of butter and flour, I was curious if this moisture content was too much.
• Texture: Because the butter/sugar/flour/egg ratio was one that felt along the lines of a standard recipe, except for the eggs, I wanted to confirm this would not lean towards a shortbready type cookie but indeed was on the right track for "sugar cookie".

Conversing with Gemini

At this point, I had: a reference recipe I had never tried, a clear idea of the functional outcome I wanted, and a list of specific, necessary technical alterations.

The next step wasn't trial-and-error; it was validation and strategic consideration. I brought the reference recipe and my requirements list to Gemini to confirm the structural impact of my changes.

My 1st Prompt: You are a cookie pro and have trained extensively in the science of baking. You are looking for a rollout cookie to ice with royal icing. But regular sugar cookies are over done. You found this recipe and it seems interesting to you. Review it, evaluate every ingredient, predict what it would be like

Gemini's Response: Gemini provided the list of ingredients, a table outlining: the role of each ingredient is in dough science, compared each ingredient ti a standard cookie, and also predicted what it's purpose was for the reference recipe.

My next thought: How does this reference recipe with not extensive reviews compare to a large blog with tons of reviews?

My 2nd Prompt: Compare this recipe against Sally’s baking addiction rollout sugar cookies recipe

Gemini's Response: Compared the reference recipe against Sally's in a 1:1 ingredient comparison and explained how the differences in quantity could impact the outcome.

My next thought: I want to make sure whatever recipe I use does NOT turn into a shortbread, I do not want a shortbread texture,

My 3rd Prompt: I do not want shortbread texture. I want sugar cookie texture

Gemini's Response: Explained that as a "cookie pro" (the persona I gave it initially), it would outline the differences in the reference recipe vs shortbread to analyze and confirm the recipe would not lean towards shortbread style.

As you could probably guess, this was a very lengthy conversation with Gemini. I was not joking when I said I wanted to build a sugar cookie recipe that makes me want to come back for more! I did discuss the questions I had around eggs and butter ratios to help determine what I wanted for my recipe.

The Testing Phase

After my conversation with Gemini, I pieced together the recipe I wanted to try and for meeting my objective: strong vanilla, complex, and most importantly - a cookie leaving me wanting more!

Batch 1: Missed the Mark

I was really excited to try this batch of cookies since it was the first version revamp of the reference recipe and of all sugar cookies before that I have had in my life. But.... it fell a bit flat:

• Focus: I realized I needed to slow down. I needed to really think about the flavor profile and mouthfeel instead of being overly excited that I wanted this recipe to succeed. Without slowing down, I would skip steps and not assess the profile correctly.
• Flavor Mandate: Too buttery! It was reminiscent of other cookies and not a sugar cookie. The vanilla was the most forward flavor! Which meant I was on the right track. Although, it felt like it was still missing the "punch" effect I was striving for. The almond extract was not discernible and I felt the complexity it was supposed to give was missing.
• Sweetness: Not quite enough. The sweetness came as a lingering afterthought when eating a cookie but needed to be turned up a bit more.

• Texture: A bit too crunchy - I think they were slightly overbaked and I completely forgot to rotate my pan, which is a must for my oven. The back right corner is always a bit toastier than everywhere else.

Batch 2: The Adjusted Recipe = Irresistible Sugar Cookie

I was too eager to get back to the drawing board, review the recipe I created, and see what I needed to adjust.

• Flavor Mandate: Time to stop holding back! I amped up the vanilla—more pure extract, more clear extract, and surprisingly, doubled the almond extract to finally get that complexity I wanted without it tasting explicitly like almond.
• Reduce the buttery feel. My options were:
• • Reduce the butter: This could impact the integrity of the flour/sugar/egg/fat ratio, which is an obvious choice BUT I did not want to reduce the butter simply because 8 tbsp is perfectly 1 stick of butter. This would be easiest in the long run for everyone to measure vs 7 tbsp. Don't you just hate the last tbsp in a stick sitting all alone in the wrapper?
  • Increase the flour & subsequently the sugar: Increasing the flour would absorb more of the fat and reduce the buttery feel. However, in doing this, it would make the recipe less sweet which is already a borderline problem to fix. So, adding more flour meant revisiting the amount of sugar in the recipe.
• Adjust the salt: I did not have quite enough salt to balance and ground the flavors so this needed to be slightly increased. I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be too much to override the additional sugar.
• Texture: Reduce the cooking time and ensure the pan was rotated during baking. This would even out the cookies and make them slightly more chewy vs crispy/crunchy.

Conversing with Gemini - Again

Throughout the testing and adjusting of batch one in preparation for batch two and the associated recipe, I had some more discussions with Gemini including prompts like:

My 17th Prompt: Completely remove almond extract

My 24th Prompt: What about citric acid?

My 32nd Prompt: You said earlier the clear vanilla would clash. Explain now why it won’t

My 46th Prompt: What I want is the almond to be indiscernible. But to provide complex flavor. Will this amount achieve that

My 51st Prompt: Creaming is a conflicting step. Some people say almost no creaming because it will make cookies spread. I don’t think this is true. Advise

Conversations with GenAI like Gemini are not always one and done. When critically thinking about its response, remember: you drive the conversation. You know the outcome you want, push back and challenge the answer provided if you find it is not aligned with the outcome you are working towards - just like I did in this snapshot of prompts I used.

Making the Dough

Once I made some strong adjustments, Batch 2 came to life quickly! Within a few hours, I had them in the oven while I patiently waited for them to bake and cool. It was important for this type of cookie to cool completely before tasting them because they are typically eaten cool. Plus, the flavor could develop a bit more while cooling.

The Result

Once Batch 2 cooled completely, I walked a cookie to my husband and we both took a bite. I immediately wanted to grab another one because sharing these is no longer an option. He gave a thumbs up on the cookie and I felt successful that I achieved everything I had set out to!

Here is my sugar cookie:

The intentional decision to slow down and commit to a smaller batch is a critical step in this process. When the recipe formula is strong, the effort shifts from troubleshooting to enjoying the process of decorating or careful packaging. This is a functional reduction of task load during a busy season while increasing enjoyment while completing the task.

Stop wasting time on recipes that spread, taste like nothing, and force you to bake 100 cookies. This formula is the definitive solution. Try the Triple-Vanilla Sugar Cookie recipe —it's high-impact, zero-spread, and worth every second!