The basic recipe for Pennsylvania Dutch Sugar Cookies originated with my spouse’s step grandmother, a Mennonite woman who lived in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The cookies are quite easy to make, are deliciously soft and chewy, and are good keepers if kept in a tight-lidded container.
The only time-consuming element for Pennsylvania Dutch Sugar Cookies is that they must be refrigerated overnight so they don’t melt all over the baking sheets. Also, they can be a nice addition to your holiday cookie baking.
For a brief history of Pennsylvania Dutch Sugar Cookies, click here. Note that the term Pennsylvania Dutch does not, in fact, denote Dutch settlers in the U.S., but rather German immigrants. The word Dutch is thought to be a bastardization of the German word Deitsche or Deutsche, which simply refers to Germans.
Here are other Pennsylvania Dutch recipes on my site: Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cream Pie, Chicken Pie, Chicken Corn Soup.
To Go Directly to the Recipe, Click Here.
The butter, shortening, eggs, and buttermilk should all be at room temperature.
In a large bowl, whisk together 3 1⁄2 cups of the flour with the salt and the cream of tartar.
Dissolve the baking soda in 1 tablespoon of boiling water.
Thoroughly cream together the butter, shortening, then gradually add the sugar. Continue creaming until the mixture is very fluffy.
Cream the butter and sugar.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add the eggs.
Beat in the buttermilk and the dissolved baking soda.
Add the buttermilk.
Add the vanilla extract. The mixture may begin to look curdled or grainy (as in the photo below), but that will be solved when you add the flour.
Add the vanilla.
On a low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture.
Add the flour.
The consistency should begin to be firm. If necessary, gradually add up to 1⁄2 cup more flour. However, the batter remains somewhat soft.
Beat to a firm consistency.
Chill the mixture overnight so that it is quite firm. Place a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat it to 375°.
Line at least two baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop a scant tablespoon of batter for each cookie. Sprinkle each cookie with a bit of sugar.
Drop on a baking sheet.
Bake the Pennsylvania Dutch Sugar Cookies for 10-14 minutes. If you want slightly browned tops, you will need to bake them about 14 minutes, otherwise 10-12 minutes is sufficient.
Bake the cookies.
Remove the cookies with a spatula onto a wire rack to cool.
Cool on a rack.
The recipe will require about 4-5 baking sheets of cookies, yielding 80-100 cookies, depending on the size.
