Well, this isn’t the most timely post…but technically it is Easter season for 43 more days, so you still have plenty of time to make some cute and tasty sugar cookies. (And really, do you need an excuse to do that?)
This is also something of a departure from the premise of this blog; rather than doing a reinterpretation of a traditional family recipe, I used my grandmother’s exact recipe. But her recipe is a slight spin on the traditional idea of cutout sugar cookies, so it’s still faithful to the spirit of the blog!
Here’s the thing: when you’re raising 10 children, 8 of whom are boys, it makes sense that you would find some shortcuts with your cooking. And the frosting part of sugar cookies takes a long time: between waiting for the cookies to cool, making the frosting, getting it on each individual cookie, and then adding sprinkles and other decorations, it’s by far the most time-consuming part of the process. My grandmother, in her wisdom, found a way to eliminate the frosting and still make cookies that are delicious and decorative.
The secret is putting food coloring in the cookie dough itself! Then, instead of adding color with different shades of frosting, your cookies are already different colors when they come out of the oven. And you can add sprinkles before you bake them! It’s a perfect decorating shortcut.
I did make one small change to my grandmother’s recipe; I added some sour cream because, well, I had some left over and was in the mood to experiment. It didn’t change things much besides perhaps making the cookies just a little bit moister!
The Original
Classic cutout sugar cookies with colorful frosting and sprinkles.
The Reinterpretation
Extra-fluffy cutout sugar cookies with colorful dough and sprinkles; no frosting!
Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups sifted enriched flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
1. Cream butter and sour cream together until smooth.
Butter and sour cream
2. Add sugar gradually, creaming until light and fluffy.
With sugar added: fluffy!
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Adding the first egg
4. Stir in vanilla.
5. Sift together dry ingredients; add gradually to creamed mixture.
Finished dough. Dough will be very sticky!
6. Separate dough into parts (I divided mine into three). Add a few drops of food coloring of your choice to each section of dough.
7. Cover dough and chill thoroughly (at least 3 to 4 hours; can be chilled overnight).
Colorful cookie dough!
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
9. Roll dough, one section at a time, on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.
10. Cut with floured cookie cutters of your choice. (I only had a duck).
Duck!
11. Place cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Add sprinkles, if desired.
The sprinkles stick surprisingly well
12. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 8 minutes or until the bottom is lightly browned.
13. Place on wire rack to cool.
Yum!
14. Enjoy!
My Grandmother's Pantry 