Swig Soft Sugar Cookies became famous at the Utah Swig Soda Shops. They are a thick, soft sugar with a sweet and creamy sour cream frosting. The cookies have rough edges that are slightly crisp. The cookies have a buttery taste, are very soft and the luscious frosting is perfection.
I’m disappointed that when we were in St. George, Utah, a few years ago, I hadn’t heard of Swig Soda Shops. I missed out on personally trying their famous “dirty sodas” and their popular frozen soft sugar cookies. I love a frosted sugar cookie, so I decided to try this version.
I’ve posted several versions of sugar cookies on my blog. One of my favorites is a buttery, crisp sugar cookie. Swig cookies are a totally different animal!
They are thick, soft, mildly buttery with a luscious layer of buttercream. Honestly, it’s the frosting that makes these cookies irresistible. Let’s make them!
The ingredients are pretty typical cookie ingredients– flour, sugar, eggs, leaveners, salt. However, there are a few “extras” such as sour cream, creme of tartar, vegetable oil and powdered sugar. I used my stand mixer to make the dough, though a hand mixer would do the job, too.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper sheets. Fill a bowl (or dish) with granulated sugar. You’ll need a glass and baking spray (Baker’s Joy is always my go to baking spray.) My cookie scoop set is a tool that gets a lot of use. My #40 cookie scoop measured out 1.5 tablespoons. The trick, I learned, is to spray the bottom of the glass with the spray, dip in sugar, then flatten the cookie. Give the glass a twist to release from the cookie. NOTE: I found that I did have to repeat adding baking spray, or the glass would stick. Spraying a dish with baking spray, then dipping the glass seemed to work best, for me.
The cookies took about 17 minutes to bake. The “trick” is not to bake them until golden brown! Otherwise, they’ll turn out dry and crumbly. Bake the cookies until the edges feel firm. Cool them on a cooling grid. NOTE: I bit into a plain cookie. Truth: The cookies tasted “floury” and bland. I don’t recommend skipping the frosting!
The buttercream frosting is extra luscious by adding a little bit of sour cream. Who knew?! A little bit of pink food coloring made the frosting look pretty. Piping frosting is one of my favorite things to do, I filled a piping bag and attached a large round tip.
Each cookie got a small mound of frosting…
…and a small off-set spatula made for quick work of spreading the frosting on each cookie.
A little bit of sprinkles added a nice variety of color. Done!
TASTING NOTES: I’m going to start with the buttercream frosting. Wow! A little bit of sour cream amps up the silkiness and flavor of the frosting. I’m going to make this frosting recipe, from now on! I didn’t care for the flavor of the plain cookie. The frosting version, however, was delicious. If you don’t like soft cookies, then skip this recipe. If you love a soft cookie, with a bit of chew, and a delicious frosting– make these! I shared these with friends, so our empty nest house wouldn’t have 3 dozen cookies tempting us.
{Copycat} Swig Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- stand or hand mixer
- #40 (1½ Tbsp.) cookie scoop makes measuring and shaping much easier
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup butter 227 g; softened
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil or canola; neutral flavored
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 265 g
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar 86 g
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar or baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract see note
- 1 tsp LorAnn Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion optional; purchased on Amazon; see notes
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 781 g
- Granulated sugar for pressing the cookies
Frosting:
- 3/4 cup salted butter 170 g; softened
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar 684 g
- 1-2 tablespoons cream or milk
- light pink food coloring optional; recommended: Americolor via Amazon
- colored sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 degrees F for convection bake). Line several half sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl using a handheld electric mixer), add the butter, oil, granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Sprinkle the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt across the top of the sugars Mix until well-combined and super creamy, 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the sour cream, eggs and vanilla and mix until well-combined, 1-2 minutes, again scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour and mix until no dry streaks remain and the mixture is evenly combined; don't over mix.
- Scoop the dough into about 3-tablespoon sized portions (I use a #20 cookie scoop) and roll into balls. Place several inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Add about 1/2 cup granulated sugar to a shallow dish or bowl. Lightly spray the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass with cooking spray and dip the bottom of the glass into the sugar. TIP: I prefer Baker's Joy Baking Spray. Spray a flat dish with the spray (much easier and less messier than spraying the bottom of a glass repeatedly.)Press each cookie into an even thickness dipping the bottom of the glass into the sugar between each press, as I found was necessary. Twist the glass to release from the pressed cookie. The edges of the cookie should look ruffled on the edges. The thickness of the cookie should be between ¼ and ½ inch. NOTE: I found that the cookies don't spread all that much.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until just set. (Mine took 17 minutes.) Gently touch and slightly lift the edges a cookie. If it feels firm and set, the cookies are done. If the cookies are golden on the edges, that means they've baked too long. They might be dry and crumbly instead of creamy and soft.
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the frosting:
- Using a handheld or stand mixer, combine the butter, sour cream and vanilla (or almond extract). Mix until thick and smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and cream (or milk) and mix until well-combined and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add food coloring, if using, then add additional cream, if needed, to adjust the consistency of the frosting so it is thick but still soft and spreadable.
- Frost the cooled cookies and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
- TIP: I filled a pastry bag with a #12 large round piping tip. With each cookie I piped a mound of frosting, then used a small off set spatula to spread the icing.
Notes
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