Sugar cookies are a holiday season must. Rolled and cut into festive holiday shapes, then frosted or sprinkled with colored sugar, they can be as simple or as elegant as you want. I've found that keeping my rolling pin and work station covered in powdered sugar instead of flour yields the best sugar cookies imaginable. This recipe makes a lot of cookies, so there's plenty to give as gifts.
Rolled Sugar Cookies
1½ cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Royal icing* (optional)
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt, then cover and chill for at least one hour.
When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 400°. Sprinkle work station and rub rolling pin generously with confectioners' sugar and roll cookie dough out to ¼ to ½-inch thick. Use cookie cutters to make shapes then place th'
][=e 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool before frosting.
*Using royal icing instead of buttercream allows you to decorate cookies with more precision. You can create designs on your cookies by "painting" the icing on or simply piping from a pastry bag. It also acts as a glue for any sprinkles, jimmies, dragees, candies, or nonpareils you may want to use to decorate your cookies. To make royal icing, beat together 3 tablespoons of meringue powder (I found mine at Michael's), 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar, and 6 tablespoons of water (and food coloring if you're using it) on low speed for 7 to 10 minutes.
photo by Angelica Golden
I may be doing these over the weekend & take the easy way out and buy frosting pens for Munchie. 😄
ReplyDeleteThat'll be fun for her! I'll do that next time to make it a little easier (and less messy) for my Toots.
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