How Sweet It Is...

As part of the Cookie Extravaganza that took place in my kitchen between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the sugar cookies were both my saving grace and my biggest headache. For weeks, I made dough and froze it so that I would save on time. Little did I realize just how many cookies I actually had sitting in my freezer waiting to be rolled, cut and baked.

Such an easy recipe and the result is a delicious, buttery, flaky cookie that holds its shape. You can make the dough and freeze it for up to 2 months or you can bake the cookies and freeze them. I don't recommend the latter unless you have a lot of space in your freezer. You don't want to end up with 14 dozen broken sugar cookies.

So I made my dough, I froze it, and when I was a couple days away from being ready to bake, I put it in the fridge to thaw. It worked brilliantly. The dough was the perfect chilled texture for rolling and cutting. By the way, rolling is a vicious tricep work out.

I rolled out my dough on parchment paper that I dusted with powdered sugar. I found that using powdered sugar rather than flour kept my cookies sweet and still kept the dough from sticking to everything.

Once the dough was rolled to the thickness that I wanted, I put as many of my cookie cutters as I could on to it. I fit them together like a puzzle to maximize the number of cookies I could get in one go. Alton Brown is to thank for that idea.

I baked them on foil lined pans. Depending on the pan I used, some I rotated and some I did not. Once I pulled them from the over, I let the cookies stand for a minute before transferring them to a cooking rack. Then I started the process all over again.

Once all of the cookies were finished baking and completely cooled, I made royal icing and decorated each one. By hand. Just me. 14+ dozen sugar cookies.

It was worth it. They turned out looking lovely.

 

There wasn't a container in the kitchen that wasn't filled with Sugar Cookies. All 4 of my square and rectangular Pyrex, my big roasting pan, a Le Creuset 7 quart dutch oven, and more Tupperware than I care to count. Let it be known, making 6 batches of this dough produces a lot of cookies.

Recipe:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups of flour
1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
powdered sugar for rolling

* dough freezes VERY well

Royal Icing:
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
3 cups of powdered (confectioners') sugar

For the cookies:

Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined. Add flour and baking powder in intervals. Dough will seem as if it doesn't have enough moisture but continue to mix with mixer until combined. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, shape into 4 disks, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate (or freeze) until firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough, using powdered sugar instead of flour for the rolling, to approximately 1/4" thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place on baking sheets. Bake 7-8 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool on a wire rack. Take the scraps and re-roll into a ball and chill again.

Repeat until all of the dough is used.

For Royal Icing:

Beat the egg whites and lemon juice together in a mixer. Reduce speed and gradually add in the powdered sugar. Beat until thick and smooth. If it is too thick, add a little more lemon juice or some milk. 1 tablespoon at a time. If it gets too watery, add a little more powdered sugar. Use immediately and store the remainder in an airtight container. I also saved what I wasn't using at the time with a damp cloth over it. Royal Icing tends to harden when exposed to air. You can divide the icing into different batches and use food coloring to add a little pop to your cookies.

Decorate your cookies with the icing. Allow to dry completely so the icing is totally hard.

Enjoy!!!

These cookies are do easy and the decorating possibilities are endless.

Happy baking!
FatCat