Hi I was wondering if someone can tell me what is the difference between sugar and butter cookie regarding taste, texture etc?

I've always thought of them as kind of the same thing, with perhaps the butter cookie being a richer, more tender cookie while sugar cookies might be a firmer cookie. I could be completely wrong, of course! But when I think of a butter cookie, I think of a cookie that, like shortbread, kind of shatters when you bite it and melts in your mouth with all that buttery goodness...Oh dear, I'm making myself hungry...

I use butter for all my cookie recipes anyway. I'm wondering if another difference might be the presence of whole egg in the recipe. I've seen butter cookie recipes that either use no egg, or just egg yolk, like shortbreads. The egg white changes the texture of the cookie, and over-handling it can make it tough.

Anyone else have the definitive answer?

I generally think of a butter cookie to more like a shortbread cookie - short on flour, heavy on shortening (i.e. butter). They are crisper and crunchier than the typical sugar cookies.

IMO, sugar cookies are usually softer and are often found frosted. I can't stand crispy sugar cookies, but I looooove shortbread and butter cookies dunked in tea or milk. Yum-o!

Thanks guys. I guess I will be making some of each.