Stifflemire’s Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies
Looking for a great cookie recipe? You have found it with Stifflemire’s Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies! This simple, 20-minute recipe creates a batch of delicate, crumbly cookies that are downright heavenly. A family favorite for years, now they can be part of your sweet traditions too!
The Most Irresistible Sugar Cookies
My mother and I are quilters, and we got this recipe from a dear friend in our local quilt guild, Sharon Stifflemire. She has a contagious inner joy that always leaves you smiling. The best recipes often come from friends, passed on through a shared love of something else entirely!
Sharon’s cookies have been the stuff of legend in our family ever since Mama brought the recipe home during my teenage years! They’re similar to a pecan sandy, only more delicate, with a melt-in-your-mouth crumble that’s amazing alongside a cold glass of milk or enjoyed all on their own.
You can whip up a batch of these delicious sugar cookies in just 20 minutes using simple pantry staples. They’re the perfect treat for a last-minute gathering or, you know, just because it’s a Tuesday and you deserve a little something sweet 😉.
Ingredients for Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies
- Solid vegetable shortening (Crisco)
- Vegetable oil
- Powdered sugar
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Cream of tartar (find this in the spice section!)
- Baking soda
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
Can I substitute butter for Crisco?
You totally can, but it’ll change the texture a bit. The Crisco is the secret to that classic crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth feel. If you use butter, they’ll turn out a little crispier and denser.
How To Make Stifflemire’s Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies
1. Preheat the oven
Preheat your oven to 375°F.
2. Mix the wet ingredients & sugars
In a large mixing bowl, place Crisco, powdered sugar, regular sugar, eggs, and vanilla and beat it with an electric mixer until it blends together.
3. Add the dry ingredients
Now add in all the other ingredients and give it a good beating for a minute or two, until the dough’s texture resembles wet sand.
4. Form the dough balls
Scoop the dough into small balls and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Why ungreased?
The dough already has plenty of fat (from the Crisco), so the cookie sheet doesn’t need to be greased. This also helps prevent the cookies from spreading out too much and becoming flat.
You can do this however you want, but I like to use a small cookie dough scoop for this. Make sure they’re spaced out about two inches apart.
5. Flatten the cookies
Place some granulated sugar in a small bowl and dip the bottom of a glass in it. Lightly press down on each cookie. You’re not trying to make pancakes here, just flatten them slightly so the top is no longer mounded!
6. Bake
Bake at 375°F for about 10 minutes, or until the bottom edges are very lightly browned.
7. Cool
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets before removing them. This recipe makes 4-5 dozen. Enjoy!
Want to go all out? Top these cookies with my Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies!
Top Tips for Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies
- Let your ingredients get to room temperature. Let those eggs sit on the counter for a good 15–20 minutes before you start mixing. It just helps everything come together nice and smooth.
- Chill that dough if it gets too soft. If your kitchen’s feeling a bit warm and the dough gets sticky, don’t you fret. Just pop it in the icebox for 20–30 minutes before you start scooping.
- Don’t overbake ’em. These cookies are gonna look underdone when you pull them from the oven – that’s just how they should be! Taking them out when the edges are just barely golden is the secret to a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Storage & Freezer Directions
Store your sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. They also freeze well for up to 2 months. You can also freeze the dough balls and bake straight from frozen, just adding a few minutes to the bake time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup solid vegetable shortening such as Crisco
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla I use 1.5 teaspoons, I like vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- In large mixing bowl place shortening, oil, sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Add all dry ingredients and beat again until very well blended and a dough is formed.
- Roll dough into 1-inch balls or use a cookie dough scoop. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.
- Using a glass with a flat bottom, dip the glass into a little bit of granulated sugar and then lightly press down the top of each cookie (dipping in sugar again before each one) to flatten the tops a bit.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the bottom edges.
Use a glass with a pattern on the bottom and they will be beautiful
Great idea Yvonne!!
I will have to try these for sure. I have a cousin that lived in Alabama with the last name Stifflemire…a very unusual name!
It is an unusual name, wonder if they are related 🙂
There used to be a store in Cullman named Stifflemire’s. With a name like that, y’all would have to be related somehow! 🙂
I am a Stifflemire living in Deatsville, Alabama but with relatives in Clark County, Alabama and a son in Georgia. Would you share any information which you have about the Stifflemire’s in Alabama?
We also have many relatives in Texas, a few in Pennsylvania and several in Florida. I had a grandmother we called Nanny who made a cookie just like this and she also made an “Old Fashioned German Tea Cake” which I would be glad to share upon request!
Hi Christy i am loving your weekly chat videos and would like to leave a question only I can not remember what you said your gmail address was? I live in Australia and Crisco is hard to come by out here do you think i could make these cookies with butter?Love the work you do and really appreciate the time you put into your SouthernPlate family thank you.
Hi Judy, I haven’t ever made them with butter but it should work fine. Please report back if you try it 🙂
You are too funny, I love to read your blog you almost always make me laugh like the line about airing out the calories oh girl you are a hoot!
🙂
I love good sugar cookies, and these are thicker the way I like them. Thank you for all off your wonderful recipes, and your stories, too.
I hope you get the chance to try them soon Joanne!!
I love sugar cookies! I have my mother’s recipe but you can never have too many sugar cookie recipes! I will have to try this one. Also, as for calories—after that first bite or if the cookie breaks, all the calories leak out, making them non-fattening.
🙂 Amen Beverly!!!
You are funny, makes me smile when i read your recipe instructions as you add your thoughts lol
🙂