The Key To An Even More Flavorful Sugar Cookie Is In Your Liquor Cabinet

A sugar cookie is undoubtedly a delicious and versatile dessert that requires few ingredients. There are a number of easy ways to upgrade your sugar cookies, such as using a flavored glaze to drizzle on top. But if you're looking for a unique way to infuse the cookies themselves, consider adding brandy to your recipe to give them an extra intensity they may have been missing. You only need 2 tablespoons of brandy for a batch of two dozen cookies, and you can pour it in place of the milk that's added to the dough. It's a tip that even Martha Stewart recommends, and if she says that brandy will improve our sugar cookies, we're going to trust her.

Alcohol is a common ingredient used in cooking and baking to elevate the flavors in your dish, and infusing liquor into your baked goods is a great option if you're trying to improve the taste of a trusted recipe. The actual science behind why alcohol enhances your food involves a complex interaction of alcohol with the volatile flavor compounds present in food, which results in those flavors being picked up by our olfactory senses as well, ultimately making for a more delicious bite.

Brandy as an ingredient in sugar cookies offers a warm and vanilla-like taste to the treats. Brandy and vanilla extract share similar characteristics in terms of flavor, which is why brandy can be used as a replacement for the latter as well. While brandy is made from fermented fruits, the wooden oak casks that it is aged in is what gives it that rich vanilla flavor. This oaky vanilla-like flavor of the brandy will pair nicely with the sweetness of the sugar cookie, resulting in a flavor-packed treat. 

Brandy is already a great addition to your sugar cookies, but you can take it a step further with more upgrades. You could add a glaze to the top of your cookies for an extra sweet component. Adding chopped almonds to the recipe is another way to give the cookies a nice nutty note. If you don't have brandy on hand in your liquor cabinet, rum can also be a replacement to offer a similar, but slightly more sweet, flavor. However, once you try adding brandy to your sugar cookies, you may never want to stop.