Sugar cookies have been in family cookie jars for years and years. They are simple in taste and they are easy to make as well. You can make sugar cookies in several different ways. Sugar cookies can be rolled into balls and flattened on the cookie sheet. They can have sprinkles of colored sugar. They can be spread with colored frosting and decorated with other things like chocolate chips. It does not matter how you present them to your family and friends as they will love them any way you make them.
The history of the sugar cookie is about as simple as the cookie itself. The recipe is mostly attributed to Dutch immigrants to America called the Pennsylvania Dutch made this cookie and the recipe when from there all over the United States. Everyone began to make this luscious cookie. In 2001 the State of Pennsylvania adopted it as the state cookie.
Of course the sugar cookie was around a long time before the Dutch came to Pennsylvania but in a different form. It used to be that a baker would put a small cake in the oven to test the temperature and in the seventh century this was happening. It was a shame to let these little sugar cakes go in the trash so someone got the idea to sell them. French called them gimblettes and the Italians called them cimbellines.
On variety of sugar cookie is fluffy and light and they become quite tall while in the oven baking. There is a bit of crunch to the edge but the middles are soft and sweet. Another variety is made where the cookie is a little harder and crisp. Both are wonderfully sweet and tasty.
The crisp variety can be rolled flat and cookie cutters can be used to make a variety of shapes. These are the kind you see during holidays. There are heart cookies made during Valentine's Day. Bunny and egg shaped cookies are made for Easter. You will normally see pumpkin cookies around Halloween and cookies that look like turkeys for Thanksgiving. At Christmas there is the most variety from Santa's face to Christmas trees and stockings.
The following Soft Sugar Cookie recipe is made with confectioners' sugar instead of granulated sugar. They come out soft and fluffy. Do not try to use cookie cutters with this recipe because the cookie is to soft to make them that way.
Turn your oven on to 350 degrees F. With an electric mixer cream 1 half pound of butter that has been softened and add 1 cup powdered sugar slowly. Include 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring mixing it in well. In a separate bowl mix 2 cups of flour and 1 half teaspoon baking soda. Combine and gradually add to the egg mixture. Take a teaspoonful of dough and roll it into a 1 inch ball. Place on a cookie sheet that has been greased 2 inches apart. Using the tines of a fork press each ball down so it flattens. Leave in the oven for 6 minutes then let the cookies stay on the sheets for 5 more minutes. Take them off the sheet and place them on a rack to cool. If you desire you can sprinkle the top of the cookies with a little granulated sugar before baking.
The following recipe is one that you roll and can cut into shapes and decorate. In a large bowl sift one and one half cups flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder and one half teaspoon salt and set the bowl aside. In a mixing bowl cream 1 cup butter then gradually start to add one and one half cup granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy. Break two eggs in a small bowl and beat. Add these to the butter mixture along with one tablespoon milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. Gradually add one and one half more cups of flour to the mixture. The dough should be smooth and not stiff so if it seems that there is enough flour and you have not added the whole one and a half cups do not worry. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in wax paper and place in the refrigerator for one hour. Roll out to about one fourth of an inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar or leave them plain to be frosted with colored icing later. Place on cookie sheets that have been sprayed with a nonstick spray and bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes making sure the edges do not get too brown. Let them sit for a few minutes and transfer onto a cooling rack.
Sugar cookies are good any time of the year, not just during the holiday. Whip up a batch for your family and watch as they gobble them up as fast as you can make them. - 32190
The history of the sugar cookie is about as simple as the cookie itself. The recipe is mostly attributed to Dutch immigrants to America called the Pennsylvania Dutch made this cookie and the recipe when from there all over the United States. Everyone began to make this luscious cookie. In 2001 the State of Pennsylvania adopted it as the state cookie.
Of course the sugar cookie was around a long time before the Dutch came to Pennsylvania but in a different form. It used to be that a baker would put a small cake in the oven to test the temperature and in the seventh century this was happening. It was a shame to let these little sugar cakes go in the trash so someone got the idea to sell them. French called them gimblettes and the Italians called them cimbellines.
On variety of sugar cookie is fluffy and light and they become quite tall while in the oven baking. There is a bit of crunch to the edge but the middles are soft and sweet. Another variety is made where the cookie is a little harder and crisp. Both are wonderfully sweet and tasty.
The crisp variety can be rolled flat and cookie cutters can be used to make a variety of shapes. These are the kind you see during holidays. There are heart cookies made during Valentine's Day. Bunny and egg shaped cookies are made for Easter. You will normally see pumpkin cookies around Halloween and cookies that look like turkeys for Thanksgiving. At Christmas there is the most variety from Santa's face to Christmas trees and stockings.
The following Soft Sugar Cookie recipe is made with confectioners' sugar instead of granulated sugar. They come out soft and fluffy. Do not try to use cookie cutters with this recipe because the cookie is to soft to make them that way.
Turn your oven on to 350 degrees F. With an electric mixer cream 1 half pound of butter that has been softened and add 1 cup powdered sugar slowly. Include 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring mixing it in well. In a separate bowl mix 2 cups of flour and 1 half teaspoon baking soda. Combine and gradually add to the egg mixture. Take a teaspoonful of dough and roll it into a 1 inch ball. Place on a cookie sheet that has been greased 2 inches apart. Using the tines of a fork press each ball down so it flattens. Leave in the oven for 6 minutes then let the cookies stay on the sheets for 5 more minutes. Take them off the sheet and place them on a rack to cool. If you desire you can sprinkle the top of the cookies with a little granulated sugar before baking.
The following recipe is one that you roll and can cut into shapes and decorate. In a large bowl sift one and one half cups flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder and one half teaspoon salt and set the bowl aside. In a mixing bowl cream 1 cup butter then gradually start to add one and one half cup granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy. Break two eggs in a small bowl and beat. Add these to the butter mixture along with one tablespoon milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. Gradually add one and one half more cups of flour to the mixture. The dough should be smooth and not stiff so if it seems that there is enough flour and you have not added the whole one and a half cups do not worry. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in wax paper and place in the refrigerator for one hour. Roll out to about one fourth of an inch thick and cut out with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar or leave them plain to be frosted with colored icing later. Place on cookie sheets that have been sprayed with a nonstick spray and bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes making sure the edges do not get too brown. Let them sit for a few minutes and transfer onto a cooling rack.
Sugar cookies are good any time of the year, not just during the holiday. Whip up a batch for your family and watch as they gobble them up as fast as you can make them. - 32190
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