Grandma Dot’s Sugar COOKIE
If you haven’t read the December Newsletter about Grandma Dot, you need to. For this recipe may not be fully appreciated without knowing about the woman who made it so special. Sugar cookies during Christmas time is as much of an event as decorating the family Christmas tree. Growing up my mother would set out tubs of different colored frostings and the three classic cutouts of cookies; the gingerbread man, the Christmas tree, and the star. My four siblings and I would always try to outdo each other for best Christmas cookie. With my limited artistic abilities, I went for humor, frosting the gingerbread man in a white tank top with ketchup and mustard stains on it. As a ten year old that was hilarious. But now my own small humans are enjoying the same traditions, although we have burned past just the three classic cutouts. Our cookie cutters now include a Llama, a Santa, a cat, a butterfly, a carrot, a turkey, a moon, a cupcake, and about 5 hearts. But just like my mother and my grandmother before me, I too will set out the dozens of naked sugar cookies with bowls of frosting and watch those tiny humans do their frosting best. Let’s hope the mustard and ketchup stained gingerbread man remains in 1990 something where it belongs.
dry ingredients
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
wet ingredients
1/2 cup butter (shortening works too, but butter taste the best)
3/4 cup Sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tablespoons of heavy cream, or half and half
Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla bet until combined. Add the dry ingredients and the cream alternately, being careful not to overmix the batter once the flour is in. Take the dough out and shape into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.
Chill the dough before rolling.
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough into your desired thickness, I like my at a quarter of an inch. Cut out the cookies using your favorite cookie cutters. You may reuse the extra dough, just know that the more flour, touching and warmth that goes into the dough the less tender it will be once cooked. After all the cookies have been cut out, carefully place onto a flat baking sheet about 1 inch apart. No greasing is needed but I do like to use parchment paper. It is also best to use a flat cookie sheet, but shockingly that’s the one thing I don’t have in my kitchen. I use rimmed baking sheets and they seem to work fine. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 12 minutes. Wait until they have cooled completely to decorate.