World Famous Paradise Bakery Sugar Cookies

These are the BEST sugar cookies EVER! I've made them several times and I always get requests for the recipe. The recipe is correct, you do need to use 4 and 1/3 cups of CAKE flour. It seems like a ton of flour, but to make these comparable to the Paradise Cafe version, you need it! Just make sure not to stir too much after you've added the flour.

I don't chill the dough, because usually when I'm making these its last minute and they turn out the same. Once I've got the dough complete, I measure each cookie out with a small disher, then roll them between my hands, roll them in sugar and then press them down with the palm of my hand. I bake them on parchment paper for only 8 minutes so that the bottoms stay barely golden. Once they're out of the oven, I leave them on the pan for a minute longer, then use a HUGE, but thin spatula to lift them to the wire rack. They're VERY delicate, so be careful and let them cool completely!

People have actually argued with me about whether or not they're from a bakery. You HAVE to try this recipe!

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A very light, rich and delicate cookie. Perfect for my Christmas tray. Frosted with pink vanilla frosting and added candies sprinkles over the tops...Thank U for this recipe..I also used cake flour substitute 1 3/4c flour and 1/4 c cornstarch worked like a charm....

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:( This recipe did not work for me and I am confused as to why, after all the lovely reviews. I did cut the recipe in half, but other than that followed it to a T. My batter came out like dry pea sized crumbles. Not wanting to give up, I scrunched the batter together in balls with my hands, rolled the balls in sugar and flattened them a bit with my palm. The directions said to bake the cookies until slightly golden, and cracked on top. Mine never turned golden, even after a couple extra minutes, and when I cooled them and tried to bite into one, they were like rock hard biscuits and I ended up throwing them away, and throwing away the remainder of the batter. After talking with a friend who uses a similar recipe, she told me that her cookies never turn golden, so she takes them out exactly at the time her recipe indicates, and so maybe that is why they turned out so hard. All in all, I still had fun trying the recipe, I just wish they had come out better.

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This is what Heaven tastes like! They are just like the Paradise Cafe cookies! The texture with the CAKE flour and powdered sugar is an almost exact match. This was a test recipe in preparation to make some Lemon Zester cookies, also from Paradise, which are seasonal (the recipe I've found is similar to this one, with lemon zest and lemon jello added). I followed the recipe, except I halved it (yes, 1/2 of an egg...), but it turned out great, so I think the CAKE flour amount is correct. I formed the dough with an ice cream scoop (1/2 recipe made 12), rolled in sugar, briefly refrigerated, and then baked for 10 min. I think people who haven't had the sugar cookies or Lemon Zesters at Paradise probably won't like the texture as much, because it's different than any other cookies I've tried, and it's different than what you might expect. I'm two hours away from the nearest Paradise Cafe, so thank you for sharing this recipe!

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This is the best sugar cookie recipe I have ever tried. These will be my family's Santa cookies from now on. They taste just like the paradise bakery cookies!

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Made these for a neighbor's Halloween cookout. Used my usual cookie scoop and baked on Silpat. Took 13 -15 minutes for each cookie sheet ! I allowed space for them to spread, and got over 48 sizable cookies ! they are good enough, but was surprised I have better recipes -- which DON'T take 1 pound of butter !! Thanks for posting.

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These were good but we did not care for the shortening flavour. I did cook them with an inverted rosebud in each cookie which looked strange after they baked because the cookie was very flat. The melted chocolate tasted good on the cookie.

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FABULOUS sugar cookie!!!! Really exceptional cookie in my house to elicit moans of pleasure after the first bite! THANK YOU!!!!

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This recipe is exactly right and has not been altered. Be sure you are adding the 2 cups of shortening. Comes out perfectly every time and very yummy!

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somebody has altered this recipe, it's suppose to be 3 1/3 cups of flour not 4 1/3. the first time i made them as the recipe says and they turned out dry and crumbly (but still good) so today i made them again with minus 1 cup of flour and FANTASTIC!!! and this time i used some cake flour and some whole wheat flour because i ran out of cake and they were still really, really, good.

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Huh? I'm confused! I made these cookies exactly as said and the mix had so much flour , it turned into crumbs. Also, they could hardly be considered sweet. It seems like all the right ingredients in all the wrong ratios. this might have worked minus 2 cups of cake flour.

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I actually made these cookies for Christmas this year and they turned out great! I rolled them out and used a Christmas ornament cookie cutter. I frosted them and put sprinkles on top. They were a big hit with everyone who tried them!

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Wow, the cake flour does make a difference. These are melt in your mouth, tender and flavorful cookies. The next batch, I will skip the rolling in the sugar step because they are on the too sweet side. This is just personal preference though. Thanks for posting the recipe.

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I don't know what happened, but these cookies turned out very dry. I even double and triple checked to make sure I used the correct amounts on all of the ingredients, and I definitely did everything exactly according to the recipe. The dough was so crumbly that it was hard to even form a ball with, and when I flattened it down on the cookie sheet the dough just fell apart. The finished product was okay, although just like the dough they were very dry and crumbly.

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I got mixed reviews on this. I made the mistake of making them with butter flavored Crisco. Next time I'll stick to the recipe. Very nice and tender cookies. Easy to decorate. I did as another review did and with some of my cookies I dipped them in cinnamon sugar to mimic a snicker doodle cookie. I also used vanilla and almond extract.

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Dead on right! This is THE Paradise Bakery sugar cookie that we all LOVE! I feel like I've won the lottery finding this! YUM! I will not be calculating the points on this recipe...probably off the chart, but it's worth it every now and then!

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Very good cookie. Never had one quite like this. I will make this my official NEW sugar cookie!

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This is the best sugar cookie recipe EVER!!!! Yes, you need to follow the recipe to a T....but I made a few slight changes so it could be transformed into a rollable cookie dough. I used butter flavor shortening, add 2 tablespoons of sour cream, and increase the cake flour to 5 cups. By doing that, you end up with a dough that is not sticky, rolls easily without needing refridgerated, and can be rolled between 2 sheets of wax paper and will never stick to it. No additional flour needed. If you want your cookies to be the star of the show, be the first to get eaten, and have everyone who tastes them clamoring for the recipe, I highly suggest these. I frost mine with powdered sugar frosting. I roll them about 3/8 inch thick, bake at 350 for 9 minutes, and they always come out pale golden, super tender and melt in your mouth. I make rather large cookies....so I double the recipe to get around 40 cookies.

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Wow! I added just a half teaspoon of almond extract and was amazed at how much these cookies taste like the ones from Paradise Bakery. I can't wait to take them to work tomorrow for all my fellow Paradise Bakery cookie hounds!

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This is my dad's absolute favorite sugar cookie. I don't eat Paradise cookies enough to say for sure that it is the same recipe, but I am fairly sure that it is. I like to use butterflavored crisco, which makes them more buttery than the ones at Paradise. Anyway, thanks for the great recipe, I was so excited when I found it. I may play around with the recipe more, like by adding extracts or herbs like rosemary ( I know that sounds weird, but I was thinking it would just be a sweeter shortbread type of cookie :) ). These freeze fabulously after they are baked too. Sorry, I said a lot more than I meant to. Oh well! Thanks again.

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