Sugar Cookies

Last week, The Little Outdoorsman had spent a little too much time outdoors.  He was tired, cranky, and sniffly. As the muggy temperatures climbed into the lower 90's (again), I resolved to keep him inside and spend the evening making sugar cookies.

My family has been making these sugar cookies for years and years.  My mom passed the recipe to me; I remember she cut the recipe out of a magazine when I was a little girl and pasted it in a red notebook. It is a classic sugar cookie recipe- the cookies are soft, the icing is sweet and fluffy.  They are a dream at Christmastime, but Christmas in July is a thing, right?  

I am watching Sleepless in Seattle as I type this post during nap time...  
"Now that was when people KNEW how to be in love. They knew it! Time, distance... nothing could separate them because they knew. It was right. It was real. It was..." 
What a movie!  It is seriously my favorite movie of all time.  I am basically Meg Ryan's character in real life.  It's scary.

Anyway, I tried to involve Reed in every step of the process.  We collected measuring cups, spoons, mixers, and bowls, set out all of the ingredients, and got to work (see recipe at end of post).

We started out by measuring and mixing together all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.  I'm trying to teach him to flatten out the ingredients when he measures them and count the cups and teaspoons as he pours.  He loves being in charge.  He says, "Lemme do it all by myself, Mommy.  I want to do it all by myself, please!"  So what if by the end of the night there are eggs on the floor and flour on the dog?

Put the dry ingredients aside and cream Crisco, water, and sugar until it is fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

Beautiful!

In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Time to put it all together!  Turn the mixer on the slowest setting possible (to avoid spraying flour all over the kitchen) and add in the dry ingredients and the milk mixture, alternating the two.  Stop the mixer as soon as the ingredients have mixed together to avoid the cookies getting too tough.

Cover the dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  We ordered a pizza and cleaned the flour off of Oliver's head.  He was not amused.  "I'm sorry, Walter.  Are you bleeding?" He's fine.

After an hour, we floured the counter top and rolled out the dough.  I need to get one of those cloths that you roll dough out on.  For now, a clean counter works just fine.

Then the fun really began!  Most of my cookie cutters are holiday shapes, but I managed to find a star, a heart, and a blue cup to serve as our summer sugar cookie dough cutters. Mr. Independent took over from there.

8-10 minutes later, voila! Beautiful!  

We only made half of a batch so it didn't take us long to bake them all.  As the last pan was in the oven, we whipped up the icing.  The ingredients are pretty simple: confectioner's sugar, margarine, vanilla, half and half, mixed together until it reaches the texture you are looking for- soft and easily spreadable.

While I was taking my classes at Miami this summer, Reed's Cha-cha (grandma) taught him how to dye icing.  He remembered this, of course, and insisted on dying some of the icing green and blue.  Boys.

TLO was getting pretty tired by decorating time, so I did most of this part by myself before rewarding him with a big, blue cookie.  I left some of the icing white with colorful sprinkles, some with green icing, and some with blue icing.

Hard work pays off!

By bedtime, I had a full belly, a sink full of dishes, and a happy boy.  These are the nights that fill me up.  They are my soul food time!

"H and G!" (Hi and Goodbye!)  I just know you will love these soft cookies. Enjoy!

​Sugar Cookies

Cookie Dough Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups sifted flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter flavored Crisco
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 teaspoons of water
-2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside.  Cream Crisco, water, and sugar until fluffy in a standing mixer.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well.  In a measuring cup or small bowl, mix milk and vanilla.  With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, one cup at a time, alternating with milk and vanilla, beating until mixed well.  Wrap and chill for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface.  Cut dough into shapes and bake for 8-10 minutes.  Do not overbake!

Icing Ingredients
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 stick margarine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-3 Tablespoons of half and half

Mix together confectioner's sugar, margarine, and vanilla.  Add half and half a tablespoon at a time until the icing reaches a creamy consistency.


Allow the cookies to cool before icing.