The Spirit Of Christmas
Well, I do, and this is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs. But before you start counting up years, just know this song was recorded by Eartha Kitt 10 years before I was even born. But still . . . I love this song. It’s . . . a womanly Christmas song. One full of things most women would love to have under our Christmas tree on Christmas Morning!
So click on the link below and enjoy!
Ok so enough nostaglia for now, here we go with my Christmas Sugar Cookies!
Childhood Memories
This recipe is one that my grandmother made every year while I was growing up. So when she passed away, this was my one request. Just to have a copy of her much loved sugar cookie recipe.
Over the years I’ve changed things up a little but only with the decorations. The basic recipe has remained unblemished!
I remember when I was little, Grandma’s cookies were always so pretty, adorned with lovely pastel colored sugar. I’ve have never found those same pastel colors in all the years that I have made these.
I started out using just colored sugar, cinnamon candies, and sprinkles to decorate, and my girls helped pour on the toppings. Then we decided to experiment with frosting. I have experimented with many frosting recipes, putting a different twist on them many times over. But I have finally found my forever Sugar Cookie Icing recipe perfect for these cookies!
To start with the cookies:
Cream together 2 sticks room temperature butter, 2 eggs, and 2 cups white sugar. Then mix in 1 tsp vanilla . . .
Then sift the dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture . . .
It’s just 1 tsp salt, 4 tsp baking powder, and 4 cups flour . . .
Then roll out the cookie dough on a flat surface that has been sprinkled with a 50/50 mixture of flour and powdered sugar . . .
I roll it to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. The thinner you roll it the crispier the cookies. I try to go more toward the 1/4 inch thickness because I like them a little on the soft side.
I usually measure just once with a little plastic 6 inch ruler that I keep in my kitchen drawer for just such an occasion, but today, I couldn’t find it, so I had to eyeball it.
What I did find, however, was a granny fork that I’ve been looking for for months!
I love this thing . . . It does things no other kitchen utensil in my house can do. I have missed it so much! It’s actually been in my family for several generations. Three at least. So I was so excited to find it!!!
The granny fork has no other value in this post, however, because it has nothing to do with making cookies. It really is the little things in life that make me happy. Like a granny fork.
Now on with the cookies . . . I’m sure you noticed that I am only cutting circles for my Christmas cookies. When my girls were growing up I made all sorts of shapes and sizes of cookies. Stars, Christmas trees, Angels, Santa’s, Snowmen, and Gingerbread Men.
We made frosting in all the colors of the rainbow and then some. We used sprinkles and cinnamon candies, and colored sugar.
But once the girls were pretty well all grown, and I was doing this all by myself, I decided to get real . . . and get simple.
So I cut them all out in circles and decorated all of them with a snowflake design. One shape, 2 colors of icing, and no sprinkles of any kind!
Once they’re rolled and cut out, I place them on my air cookie sheets. You don’t have to use air cookie sheets but I love these things because they are a little more forgiving if you leave the cookies in the oven a minute or two too long. Bake at 400F for about 10 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.
Once they’re baked, I cool them on racks while I make the icing . . .
There always seems to be just a little dough left over. It’s not enough to actually roll and cut out, but I hate wasting it so I pat it into a flat circle and call it my “Charlie Brown” cookie. I call it that because it’s the ugly duckling cookie made out of scraps.
But after all the baking and decorating is done . . . I decorate it and reward myself for a job well done and have it for a snack!
Then it’s time to mix the icing.
It’s a Royal Icing of sorts . . . and it’s very yummy.
I mix together:
- 4 cups of powdered sugar
- 4 Tbsp light karo syrup
- juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon
- a dash or two of salt
- enough milk to get it to the desired consistency.
Once it gets to the point that it flows off the end of my spreading knife, it’s ready.
I frost all the cookies with the white icing . . .
Then mix just a little blue food coloring into the remaining icing . . .
I put it in a quart sized plastic bag and use decorating tips to make snowflakes.
Then just rinse and repeat (ok . . . not literally) till they’re all done.
Even my Charlie Brown cookie gets to have a snowflake . . .
Then they’re ready for Santa on Christmas Eve . . .
Sugar Cookie Cutouts
Cream together:
- 2 sticks room temperature Butter
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Sift and blend together:
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 4 cups all purpose flour
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend together.
Roll out to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness of flat surface that has been sprinkled with 50/50 mixture of flour and powdered sugar.
Cut out into desired shapes. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10 min. Cool on baking rack.
Royal Icing:
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 4 Tbsp light karo syrup
- juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon
- dash or two of salt
- enough milk to get it to the desired consistency
- food coloring if desired
Mix it all together and frost away!
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