Christmas Sugar Cookies

Some of the finished decorated Christmas cookies, some are works of art! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Christmas Sugar Cookies

I was trying to remember how many years I have been making Christmas sugar cookies; it definitely goes back to when I had single digits for my age.

When we were growing up in South America, we made sugar cookies to leave for Santa and the reindeer. Dad got some as well. As I recall, sugar cookies were one of his favorites.

As a big sister to three siblings, we also made sugar cookies over the holidays as gifts for friends as well as to enjoy. They came in especially handy as we were setting up the huge model railroad train layout under and around the Christmas tree. They were also a favorite breakfast Christmas morning.

During my married years, sugar cookies were made for gift baskets we gave away to coaches, teachers, friends - whoever made our year special. We also made gingerbread cookies over the years, making good use of the cookie cutter collection I still use. I hear my step kids continue this tradition with their kids.

Now Mary, my sister-in-law in Minnesota, made my cookie making pale compared to hers. She baked cookies every month for her church, and when it came to Christmas. Well, let’s just say it was an impressive assembly line.

I was able to snag her recipe the year before I gave everyone in the family a handmade recipe book. Not a small feat because this is not any sugar cookie recipe, this is “Grandma Green’s Sugar Cookies recipe. What makes it special, besides coming from Grandma? Unlike most other sugar cookie recipes, this one is not too sweet, making it a nice back drop for adding icing.

It is also a generous recipe so you may want to cut it in half if you just want a couple dozen.

Mary’s Grandma Green’s Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

1 teaspoon soda

1 cup sour cream or milk

2 teaspoons lemon extract

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 well-beaten eggs

6 cups flour

To Make:

Cream shortening and sugar. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Add milk, flavorings and eggs to shortening/sugar. Add flour. Mix well. Drop or roll out and cut with cookie cutters. Decorate with decorative sugar, raisins or other bake-able additions. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes.

After cooled, these sugar cookies are ready for decorating. And sampling. I truly believe any baked goods need to be carefully and deliberately sampled. Quality control. Reindeer can be very picky!

This is the sugar cookie assembly line I walked into the last time I was in Minnesota for Christmas:

The dining room table is full of sugar cookie icings and decorations. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

There were four people at work when I walked in. My brother Steve joined us at some point, which means the cookie decorating took on a whole new meaning. Besides the decidedly orange “Ilini” theme, some of the cookies turned into spaceships and amoeba. That’s what you get when you have a geneticist being creative with sugar cookies.

Mine had a cat theme, as I recall. The tails kept disappearing on my brother’s side of the table so mine were deemed only for family consumption.

There was a lot of talking and laughing, and even Michael and Rachel stopped arguing long enough to agree on cookie icing colors.

Nephew Michael and Niece Rachel were very particular about cookie icing colors. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Michael is now engaged living in a warmer climate; Rachel has just graduated from college and plans to see Michael over the holidays.

You can take this recipe, add a few favorite cookie cutters and edible decorations, and make a nice Christmas gift for that baker on your gift list. We have one for gingerbread cookies.

I hope Michael and Rachel have time to make at least one batch of Christmas sugar cookies when they are together. It’s a delicious way to bake new memories!

For more tips on gardening, beekeeping, cooking and easy home decor, subscribe to my weekly Garden Notes.

Charlotte

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Some of the finished decorated Christmas cookies, some are works of art! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Christmas Sugar Cookies

I was trying to remember how many years I have been making Christmas sugar cookies; it definitely goes back to when I had single digits for my age.

When we were growing up in South America, we made sugar cookies to leave for Santa and the reindeer. Dad got some as well. As I recall, sugar cookies were one of his favorites.

As a big sister to three siblings, we also made sugar cookies over the holidays as gifts for friends as well as to enjoy. They came in especially handy as we were setting up the huge model railroad train layout under and around the Christmas tree. They were also a favorite breakfast Christmas morning.

During my married years, sugar cookies were made for gift baskets we gave away to coaches, teachers, friends - whoever made our year special. We also made gingerbread cookies over the years, making good use of the cookie cutter collection I still use. I hear my step kids continue this tradition with their kids.

Now Mary, my sister-in-law in Minnesota, made my cookie making pale compared to hers. She baked cookies every month for her church, and when it came to Christmas. Well, let’s just say it was an impressive assembly line.

I was able to snag her recipe the year before I gave everyone in the family a handmade recipe book. Not a small feat because this is not any sugar cookie recipe, this is “Grandma Green’s Sugar Cookies recipe. What makes it special, besides coming from Grandma? Unlike most other sugar cookie recipes, this one is not too sweet, making it a nice back drop for adding icing.

It is also a generous recipe so you may want to cut it in half if you just want a couple dozen.

Mary’s Grandma Green’s Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

1 teaspoon soda

1 cup sour cream or milk

2 teaspoons lemon extract

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 well-beaten eggs

6 cups flour

To Make:

Cream shortening and sugar. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Add milk, flavorings and eggs to shortening/sugar. Add flour. Mix well. Drop or roll out and cut with cookie cutters. Decorate with decorative sugar, raisins or other bake-able additions. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes.

After cooled, these sugar cookies are ready for decorating. And sampling. I truly believe any baked goods need to be carefully and deliberately sampled. Quality control. Reindeer can be very picky!

This is the sugar cookie assembly line I walked into the last time I was in Minnesota for Christmas:

The dining room table is full of sugar cookie icings and decorations. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

There were four people at work when I walked in. My brother Steve joined us at some point, which means the cookie decorating took on a whole new meaning. Besides the decidedly orange “Ilini” theme, some of the cookies turned into spaceships and amoeba. That’s what you get when you have a geneticist being creative with sugar cookies.

Mine had a cat theme, as I recall. The tails kept disappearing on my brother’s side of the table so mine were deemed only for family consumption.

There was a lot of talking and laughing, and even Michael and Rachel stopped arguing long enough to agree on cookie icing colors.

Nephew Michael and Niece Rachel were very particular about cookie icing colors. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Michael is now engaged living in a warmer climate; Rachel has just graduated from college and plans to see Michael over the holidays.

You can take this recipe, add a few favorite cookie cutters and edible decorations, and make a nice Christmas gift for that baker on your gift list. We have one for gingerbread cookies.

I hope Michael and Rachel have time to make at least one batch of Christmas sugar cookies when they are together. It’s a delicious way to bake new memories!

Charlotte

Versatile Butter Cookies Recipe

Stacking cookies in the tin almost doubles the amount you can include. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Versatile Butter Cookies Recipe

Whenever my gardening friend Tom helps me in my garden, I know exactly how to thank him. He loves these butter cookies rolled out as thin as possible without any embellishments. The last time I gave him a tin he said he enjoys a couple at the end of the day with a cup of coffee, out of his mother’s lovely floral hand painted ceramic cup he once brought over to my house. I do have dibs on that cup if he ever tires of it!

So when a truckload of horse manure found its way next to the mulch piles he brought me last year, I knew it was time to dust off this recipe.

Only one problem.

When I made these last year, it was before my cataract surgery so I must have misread the ingredients, particularly the amount of flour. Now that I have better eyesight, I followed the recipe exactly and had to toss out the first batch, it was much too thick to even roll out. I suspect I was a little too free with the flour measuring so it’s not the recipe’s fault!

I have a tendency to throw things together and then try to remember what I did later when it works out well so this was no surprise. What was challenging was trying to find the right flour amounts to keep these butter cookies thin and crispy.

Hummm, this just reminded me of a Christmas sugar cookie discussion about whether people like their Christmas sugar cookies thick or thin. It is almost a matter of principle.

Oh, and no surprise that I made a couple other adjustments to this recipe, right? I will list your options so you can try these out and find the one you like.

These are buttery but not sweet so if you want to decorate with icing, sugar sprinkles or a simple glaze those will not overwhelm the cookie.

These basic recipes are out of my mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook. They are also available in American Cooking Illustrated Encyclopaedia, the closest cookbook I have found to the tried and true Betty Crocker versions.

Pick up tin cans in summer to repurpose for cookie giving the rest of the year. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Basic Butter Cookies Recipe

Beat until creamy:

1 cup soft butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

Stir in 3 teaspoons flavoring (vanilla, lemon, almond, chocolate and so forth)

Sift together and stir in

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Chill dough. Roll very thin. Cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cooking sheet.

Bake at 425F until delicately browned.

Makes abut 7 dozen 2” cookies.

Charlotte’s Butter Cookies Recipe Revised

If you like your cookies thicker, keep the 3 cups of flour but I preferred 2.5 cups. Make sure the butter and flour are well mixed before chilling. Chilling well made it easy to roll the dough as thin as I wanted it.

If you want something less buttery, substitute vegetable shortening and increase the flavoring to 4 teaspoons.

To glaze, brush mixture of 1 egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of water over top.

You can also easily add sprinkles before cooking.

Allow to cool completely before icing.

Easily turn a cookie cutter into a gift box bow using a small ribbon. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Nice Gift Idea

These butter cookies, by the way, are a nice little gift for a variety of occasions. Tie them to a theme using cookie cutters.

You can also make them into a gift by using a theme cookie cutter and adding the recipe with the cookie cutter tied with a nice bow.

I suppose you could just give the cookie cutter with the recipe, too, but make a batch, that way you can enjoy a few yourself and the recipient will be enticed to make their own.

Charlotte