Food for Thought: Sugar Cookies

Halloween

I know it's not Thursday, but you need a few more of my recipes before Easter.  I must confess to being a sugar cookie junkie. I love sugar cookies of all shapes and sizes as long as nobody puts any artificial flavoring in my frosting. My sweetie knows my obsession, so the other day he brought me home three Wilson cookie cutters, an egg, a flower, and a bunny. We have not typically made sugar cookies for Easter, but how could I resist?

I wanted to mix the cookies up while the kids were at school, but my sweetie surprised me with eggs and toast this morning before he left for work. (His scrambled eggs are amazing!) Then when I headed for the fridge to get started, I didn’t have enough eggs left to mix up the dough. Grandpa was hanging around today, so I asked him to stop for a dozen on his way home  from the library. He got back shortly before the kids got home. I decided to make it a lovely "carrot" to entice the kids to do their chores quickly. The Prima Donna was all over that and started right away. Scout was the slowest. Maybe I just let her get away with too much.

Thanksgiving

They finally finished and the Prima Donna mixed up the dough. Then it sat in the fridge during dinner and homework. We finally rolled it out just after 9:00. Now it is 10:30 on a school night and my kids are decorating sugar cookies! What kind of a mom is that?! These are my all-time favorite recipe and believe me, I have tried many different ones. They are big and soft and the frosting is my sweetie’s recipe. Let me know what you think.
Sugar Cookies

Spring

¾ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

Mix butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend in flour and baking soda.

Cover and chill for one hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll ¼" thick on floured surface and cut shapes. Placed on ungreased baking sheet.

Cook for 10 minutes or until light yellow. Don’t overcook! Smaller shapes should be cooked less. Frost and decorate as desired.
Frosting

1 stick of margarine or butter

1 lb of powdered sugar

½ tsp vanilla

¼ cup of milk

Cream butter. Add all other ingredients. You may need to add more milk to get a good consistency. Whip for a couple of minutes (the whipping really is the secret to making it nice and creamy). If you want to make chocolate frosting, leave out the vanilla and add about 3 tbsps of cocoa powder. You can put in more or less depending on how dark you want your chocolate. Add food coloring after frosting has been whipped.

**Editor's Note: Left over frosting makes great graham cracker sandwich cookies.**