AUNTIE JILL'S SUGAR COOKIES

Family recipe.

Dough Ingredients:
3 c. powdered sugar
2 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
5 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar

Frosting Ingredients:
Powdered sugar
Vanilla
Milk
Food coloring

Makes 50 medium-sized cookies.

The key to this recipe is to roll out the dough thicker than you think you should and bake the cookies less time than you think you should. Otherwise you will end up with crunchy cookies, instead of soft, crumbly cookies.

Mix sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla to the consistency shown in the photo below. I mix this by hand with a wooden spoon.



Stir in all other (dry) ingredients (flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar) until the dough becomes sticky. Small chunks of butter should still be visible. Split batch in two (roughly), cover, and refridgerate for 2-3hrs. Preheat oven to 375oC.



Working with 1/2 the refridgerated dough at a time (leave the other half in the refridgerater) roll out cookie dough to about 1/4in thickness.



Cut out dough in desired shapes and bake on an UNgreased baking sheet for about 6min30sec or until the edges are slightly brown. Do NOT allow the edges to be more than slightly brown or else the cookies will not be as soft as they should be.



Let cool for several minutes (until baking sheet is cool to the touch) and transfer to cooling racks. Cookies are soft and may be a bit crumbly, so transfer carefully.



Mix frosting ingredients until desired color and consistency is obtained. Be careful! A little bit of milk goes a LONG way. At optimal consistency the frosting will still be slightly runny, only apply a thin layer to cookies to avoid dripping. My cookies (pictured below) have been frosted with both homemade frosting and store bought.



Festive and delicious for any occasion. I did not label this recipe "easy" because, although making the cookies is quite simple, the decorating (can) take forever. Not-so-easy.