mom's sugar cookies

beware, folks. these are an all-day thing. like ALL DAY. i was still frosting cookies at 11 pm and started them in the morning. but, well, it's christmas. we're supposed to spend the day in the kitchen at christmastime, right? so here we go. i'm giving you the regular recipe, but i doubled it. as long as i'm going to this much work, i might as well make a ton of them. so you may want to double the portions i show you here. you'll want 3/4 cup butter, softened; 1 cup of sugar; 2 eggs, beaten; 1/2 tsp. vanilla; 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

i like to soften my butter in the bowl (just slice it up and leave it for twenty minutes or so);

toss in your sugar,

then mix up your eggs and add those too, followed by the vanilla.

mix until well combined.now i added flour, one cup at a time. after i poured in the first cup of flour i also added the baking powder and salt. (well, noah did. notice the transformers band-aid).
mix well, then keep adding flour a cup at a time until you have the right consistency.





not quite ready, keep adding. since you have to roll these out, it has to be stiffer than regular cookie dough.

once you've added all your flour in and the dough is relatively stiff, stick your dough in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

once it's good and cold, clean your countertop really well (i use several clorox wipes, then let it dry) and sprinkle it with flour. rub your hand over the flour to get it all over the countertop, then rub your hand on the rolling pin to flour it up as well. grab half of your dough (1/4 if you doubled it) and roll it out into a circular shape. not too thin, these are really better if they're a little thicker. then the fun part: cut out. my kids had a blast helping with this part.



you'd think i'd have a picture of the shapes cut out on the pan. you'd be wrong. i thought i did...somehow i missed it. anyway, lay them on a baking sheet and bake at 400* for 8-9 minutes.

once they're cool, start frosting. you can make your own, but really, why bother? it's like eighty-nine cents for a can of frosting and sooo much easier. just add 3-4 drops of food coloring and get frosting.



there. masterpiece, no?
they're actually really, really good, and they freeze! just lay them on a baking sheet and flash-freeze for 30 minutes, then toss them into a ziploc. easy as pie. one tip: make sure not to overbake the cookies. if they get brown at all, they're crunchy, and nobody likes a crunchy sugar cookie. they should be soft. so test a few out, if they're cooking too fast you likely made the dough too thin. either adjust your cooking time or the thickness of your rolled-out dough. have fun!

mom's sugar cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt.

(you may want to double those portions to make a larger batch).
mix the butter and sugar together until well blended. add your eggs and combine, then add the vanilla. once it's all combined, add one cup of flour, the baking powder and the salt. mix well. continue adding flour a cup at a time until it is well-blended and semi-stiff. refrigerate dough for 3-4 hours. clean and flour your countertop. roll 1/2 of your dough into a circle, then use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. bake at 400* for 8-9 minutes (don't let them turn brown on the edges); cool; frost; enjoy!