Old Fashioned Sugar Cookie Food

THE BEST OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cookies:.
• Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Cover & refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 5-10 minutes depending on how you like them. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• Frosting:.
• Beat the butter, add sifted sugar & mix well. Add the vanilla, enough milk to reach the consistency you want & the tint to desired colour.
• Spread the frosting over the cookies using a pallet knife. Allow to sit for a few minutes then add sprinkles. Don't use the sprinkles right after frosting or they will absorb moisture & leach their colour!
• Glaze:.
• Stir confectioners' sugar, milk and extract in small bowl until smooth. Stir in corn syrup until glaze is smooth and glossy. (If glaze is too thick, stir in small amount of additional corn syrup.)
• Stir in 3 to 4 drops food color until evenly distributed and glaze is smooth. Add additional drops of food color until glaze is of desired color.
• To glaze cookies, place cooling rack on foil-lined baking sheet. Holding a cookie by its edge, dip the top of cookie into glaze. (Or spoon the glaze onto cookies using a teaspoon. Cookies can also be glazed using a new small paintbrush.) Place glazed cookies on cooling rack to dry. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch any drips.)
• Use contrasting glaze colors to decorate glazed cookies, if desired. Place small amount of contrasting glaze in small resealable plastic bag. Snip off tiny piece of the corner of the plastic bag. Create design by squeezing contrasting glaze onto cookies. Allow glazed cookies to dry thoroughly before stacking.
• If you would like more than one color of glaze, divide untinted glaze among separate small bowls. Tint each one a different color by stirring in 1 to 2 drops food color until evenly distributed and glaze is smooth. Add additional drops food color until glaze is of desired color. (.
• If cookie is decorated with contrasting glaze before glazed cookie is allowed to dry, glaze colors will blend slightly, creating a softer, more muted design).
• Allow glaze to dry before storing cookies in airtight containers.
• Note: Use glaze soon after preparing. Do not refrigerate glaze, as it will begin to harden.

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
• Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a second large bowl and mix well. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture 1 cup at a time. Chill the dough for 3 to 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Roll out the dough and cut it into shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Place the shapes on the prepared cookie sheet. If decorating with colored sugar, brush the cookies with milk and sprinkle with colored sugar (if using royal icing, leave unfinished). Bake until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
• Remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely. If using royal icing, decorate the cookies as desired.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl. Mix slowly with an electric mixer until stiff enough to form peaks; the icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. If the frosting is over-beaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, and then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Gels are best with royal icing. You don't want to thin them with liquid colors. Be careful of adding too much color, which reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days. Store the icing at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface.
• Yield: 3 1/2 cups icing

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg. Blend in cream and extract. Combine dry ingredients, and add until well blended. Shape into a flattened ball. Wrap in parchment and chill at least 1/2 hour. Roll out onto lightly floured board until approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Sprinkle with sugar, and place on parchment covered baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown.

OLD-FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl stir together the lard or shortening, the butter, 1 cup of the sugar, the egg, and the vanilla. Into the bowl sift together the flour, the baking soda, and the salt and stir the mixture until it forms a dough. Chill the dough, covered, for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll rounded tablespoons of the dough into balls, roll the balls in the additional sugar, coating them completely, and arrange them 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass dipped in the sugar (the edges will crack slightly) and bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven for 8 to 12 minutes, or until they are pale golden. Transfer the cookies to racks and let them cool. The cookies keep in an airtight container for 1 week.

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a second large bowl and mix well. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture 1 cup at a time. Chill the dough for 3 to 4 hours.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Roll out the dough and cut it into shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Place the shapes on the prepared cookie sheet. If decorating with colored sugar, brush the cookies with milk and sprinkle with colored sugar (if using royal icing, leave unfinished). Bake until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.Remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely. If using royal icing, decorate the cookies as desired.Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl. Mix slowly with an electric mixer until stiff enough to form peaks; the icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. If the frosting is over-beaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, and then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Gels are best with royal icing. You don't want to thin them with liquid colors. Be careful of adding too much color, which reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days. Store the icing at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface.Yield: 3 1/2 cups icingSource: foodnetwork.comRecipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES AND FROSTING

Steps:

• Make cookie dough: Cream butter, adding sugar gradually. Cream until soft and fluffy. Then add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift dry ingredients together. Alternately add ingredients and cream to egg sugar mixture. Mix well.
• Chill 3 hours or overnight. Roll out on a well-floured board or countertop to 1/4-1/2 inches thickness. Shape with floured cookie cutters. Bake on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet at 350 for 8-10 minutes. (They won't be brown at all when they are done - if the cookie springs back when pressed down lightly, it is done.).
• Make frosting: Whip softened butter and softened cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar mixing until well combined. Add milk to bring frosting to desired consistency. When cookies are completely cool, frost. Add sprinkles if desired.

OLD-FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Do not preheat oven yet - dough must chill before baking.
• Melt butter.
• Add sugars and mix.
• Let cool to room temperature.
• Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
• Add vanilla, lemon zest, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
• Mix well.
• Add flour in increments, mixing after each addition.
• Chill dough for at least one hour (overnight is fine).
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees, rack in middle of oven.
• Use hands to roll dough in walnut-sized balls.
• Roll dough balls in a bowl of white sugar.
• Place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet.
• Flatten dough balls with a greased spatula.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes (They should have a tine of gold on the top).
• Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling.
• Cookies can be decorated with frosting piped from a pastry bag for special occasions - or left just as they are.

GRANDMA MINNIE'S OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) .
• Over a large bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture resembles cornmeal. Stir in lightly beaten egg, cream, and vanilla. Blend well. Dough may be chilled, if desired.
• On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Sprinkle with sugar; cut into desired shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until delicately brown.

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
• Cut in butter until fine.
• Add egg, cream (or evaporated milk), and vanilla.
• Roll out dough evenly on to a lightly floured surface. (I separate my dough into 3 pieces and roll each piece to 1/4 inch thickness.).
• Sprinkle with sugar. (I usually skip this step if I plan to frost the cookies).
• Cut out with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased baking sheet. (The cookies do not really spread much, so about an inch apart is fine.).
• Bake at 400F for 5 - 8 minutes or until edges just start to brown. (In my oven 6 minutes is perfect - the cookie is firm, but not over-cooked and the bottoms are just-browned.).
• Remove to cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

OLD-FASHIONED LEMON SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
• Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
• Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.
• Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.