Week Fifteen- Sugar Cookies (Option 2)

My camera is missing! I hope it turns up soon. In the meantime I thought I would post this weeks recipe anyway. I decided to make sugar cookies again. This recipe is a little less fussy than the first. You don't have to refrigerate the dough and it is much easier to work with. You also get more cookies out of this recipe, so more cookies- less work! That's always good right?

Sugar Cookies:
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
3 1/2 cup flour
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1 t salt

Preheat oven to 375. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add milk, egg, and vanilla. Mix well. Combine flour and other dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture. This will make a stiff dough. Place dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch, cut into desired shapes. (The thicker the dough the softer the cookies) Bake for 8 minutes. Cool and top with 2-3 inches of yummy frosting!
Pictures coming soon. . . I hope.

Week Fourteen- Sugar Cookies

Something about Sugar cookies screams Valentines Day to me! In preparation for Valentines Day- let's make Sugar Cookies!!

The Dough:

1 cup REAL butter (no substitutions)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp extract- almond or vanilla

2 1/2- 3 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This takes about 2 minutes, and should look like this:

Add in eggs, and extract and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl mix your dry ingredients. Slowly add the the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined. Start with 2 1/2 cups flour and add more if needed. You want a stiff dough, but adding too much flour the dough will crack and be too stiff when you go to roll it out.

Shape the dough into two balls and smash flat. Wrap in wax paper and chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Your cookies will hold their shape better if you chill the dough.

After your dough has chilled and you are ready to roll it out lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface. Roll the dough out with a roiling pin and cut into desired shape.

Bake at 350 for 8- 12 minutes.

A note on rolling out: if you want a soft cookie bake a shorter time and make a thicker cookie. If you want a crispier cookie bake longer and make a thinner cookie. (you probably figured that last part out yourself!) I would bale this until the edges are golden.

After baking cool on a cooling rack.

I got one dozen of these large hearts.

Now for the frosting:

I used a icing, and it was good, but really it was missing something. While I was eating my third one I realized it was frosting!! For a great sugar cookie you need a really yummy icing and lots of it. So while this isn't the icing in my picture, this is the recipe I recommend!

The Only Butter cream Recipe you will ever need:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 t vanilla or almond extract

4 cup powdered sugar

2- 4 tbsp milk, to consistency you want

Cream together all ingredients. You can make this any color you want!