Starlight Sugar Crisps Recipe (Vintage Christmas Cookie)

Name: Starlight Sugar Crisps
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Ingredients: 1 pkg yeast; 1/4 cups Water (warm); 3 1/2 cups Flour; 1 1/2 tsp Salt; 1 cup Butter; 2 Eggs (beaten); 1/2 cup Sour cream; 1 tsp Vanilla extract; 1 ½ cups Sugar; 3 Vanilla Beans

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Wowie these are delicious cookies. Or are they a pastry? They are honestly a wonderful combination! These lovely little things come from a 1950s edition of Pillsbury’s Best Butter Cookies. with the name “Starlight Sugar Crisps.” I wanted something fun and different to make for Valentine’s Day this year and these cookies hit the mark. I found the original Pillsbury cookbook in my grandma’s collection and when I saw these I knew I had to try them.

Ingredients You Will Need

Active Dry Yeast
Hot water (120-130 Degrees)
Flour
Salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Eggs
Sour Cream (or whole-fat yogurt)
Vanilla Extract & Vanilla Beans
Sugar: for this recipe, you will make vanilla sugar, I added a few more steps and made Vanilla Bean sugar. It is just as simple, you will just need vanilla beans. if you make your own vanilla extract, those beans work best!

What makes these cookies special

Most Christmas cookie trays are full of the same handful of recipes, thumbprints, spritz, sugar cookies cut into trees. Starlight Sugar Crisps stand out because of the twist, and the unique yeasty flavor. I roll each strip of dough through layers of vanilla sugar, fold it three times, then twist it before it bakes, so every cookie comes out with its own ridges and sparkle. The technique comes straight from the 1950s Pillsbury cookbook I found in Grandma’s collection!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

Yeast – I use red star platinum baking yeast and I always get amazing results. This is the yeast you just add to the flour, then add the hot liquid later. I have never had this yeast mess up, and I love that I don’t have to “bloom” any yeast!

The recipe calls for sour cream, however, you can substitute that for whole-fat plain yogurt. I used Nancy’s plain whole-fat yogurt and they turned out great! I would imagine other fat percentages of yogurt would work the same, however I haven’t tried it!

Twisting the dough – The easiest way to twist the dough was to place the cut strips onto a baking mat and use one finger to hold down one end, while you twist the other end.

Baking tools I used

How to make Starlight Sugar Crisps

How to make starlight sugar crisps: Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add Red Star Premimum yeast to the flower. On low speed, cut in butter until no sizes larger than small peas remain.

Add eggs, sour cream (or yogurt if you choose), and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and the hot water to the bowl. Mix until a sticky dough forms. Form dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees—line baking sheets with parchment and set aside. Combine the sugar and remaining vanilla to make vanilla sugar.

Cut the dough disk in half. Sprinkle the work surface with the vanilla sugar mixture and begin rolling half of the dough in an 8×16 rectangle.

Starlight Sugar Crisps Recipe (Vintage Christmas Cookie)

Fold the dough over three times, sprinkling sugar on the dough each time. Roll once more into an 8×16 rectangle. Cut into 32 4×1 strips. Repeat the process with the second half of the dough.

Twist cookies (2-3 times) and place on prepared baking sheets.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to cooling rack.

Store cookies in an airtight container for no more than two days.

Starlight Sugar Crisp video tutorial

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The dough needs at least 2 hours in the refrigerator before you roll and twist it, and it can sit there overnight. Bring it out for a few minutes before rolling so it is easier to work with.

The yeast gives Starlight Sugar Crisps their light, flaky texture instead of a dense bite. I use Red Star Platinum Baking Yeast, which does not need to bloom in water first, so it mixes right into the dry ingredients.

Yes. I have swapped it for whole-fat plain yogurt with good results. Stick with a full-fat version, a lower fat yogurt will change the texture of the dough

Keep them in an airtight container and plan to eat them within two days. These are best fresh, the sugar coating softens the longer they sit out.

I don’t have a tested answer for this one since the original post doesn’t cover it. Have you frozen this dough before, or should we leave this question out until it’s been tested?

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