successful sugar cookies

Growing up, our annual Christmas cookie baking day was always December 23. That seems like it would be cutting it pretty close to the big day, but I think the cookies were baked primarily for our neighbors and probably also to give my sister and I something to do to pass the time until Christmas. (so we'd stop asking/begging to open presents)

I still bake some of the same treats we made all those years, including my mom's special oatmeal cookies (took several years and batches of failed cookies to finally find out that she also adds a cup of wheat germ to them, which was conveniently left off of the original recipe. Once I added that, I had the same oatmeal cookie I remembered from my childhood!) the cinnamon popcorn, caramel popcorn, and classic sugar cookies. The sugar cookies were always the grand finale of baking day because they were fun to make and involved using the green and red sugars and sometimes a few redhots if we had them around. (we were frugal with our varieties of colored sugars and cookie decorations. and cookie cutters-I only remember having a santa shape, a bell, a tree, and a star.) My mom always rolled them out, which I thought was the unfun part, and my sister and I decorated them.

Once I grew up and was out of the house, I wanted to make those same buttery sugar cookies. The recipe my mom used was actually my grandma's: (I would recommend a double batch)

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tbs milk
1 tbs vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Mix butter, sugar and eggs together. Stir in milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Chill dough. Bake cut-outs at 425 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

I tried this recipe time and time again but always found it so sticky that I had to add tons more flour to have a chance at rolling it out. I've asked my mom several times if she left anything off the recipe, and she claims she didn't. She still makes them, too-I've asked if she has a hard time rolling them out, and she says she doesn't. My baking skills have improved over the years, so maybe it would be worth trying this recipe again sometime. I've since moved on to Alton Brown's no fail sugar cookie recipe, which is really good, but they don't taste like mom's. (although the recipes are so similar!!)

Alton's recipe ingredients: (a lot more flour and butter in comparison, but one batch might make a lot more cookies than my grandma's batch)

3 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tbs milk


Last weekend, I made Alton's recipe and enjoyed using the variety of colored sugars and cookie cutters I now own.


Maybe for Valentine's Day I'll try my grandma's recipe again. I think sugar cookies make a nice Valentine's treat.