Christmas Baking Countdown: The BEST Sugar Cookies
December 21, 2007 by Marye Audet
Filed under Christmas Baking, Cookies
My friend, Mary, makes the best sugar cookies ever. She got the recipe from her mother in law and I don’t know where it originally came from.
Now, Mary has been my best friend, side kick, and confidant…my counselor, my shoulder, and my sister for…uh….eighteen years. And every Christmas of those eighteen years she has made us sugar cookies at Christmas. I make them too but they are just not the same.
These are easy to roll out. They are so easy to roll and cut that we used to have all of the kids from the kids church ministry come over and make them to sell to raise money for missions. If a cookie can withstand THAT it can with stand anything!
These are great to leave out for Santa, they keep well (if they last that long), freeze well, and handle well. They are a soft cookie so if you are looking for crisp you may want to look elsewhere. I am sure that I have forgotten exact measurements over the years..it seems that every year I call her, beg for the recipe, promise I won’t lose it, write the recipe down, make it and then promptly lose it!
Give them a try. I think Santa will approve.
Mrs. T’s Sugar Cookies
1 1/2 cup butter melted
2 cups white granulated sugar
4 eggs beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder ( or 1 tsp baking soda, for a softer cookie)
1 tbs vanilla extract
5 cups of flour
Melt the butter. Whisk in the sugar, let cool until lukewarm, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. add flour and baking powder (or soda). Chill for about 30 minutes in the freezer or overnight in the fridge.
Roll out about 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured board, cut, and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will be golden at the edges but do not let them brown. let cool and decorate as desired.
Amount varies with size of cookie cutters.
oh Yum!! gonna try making these after the kids get home tonight…… after I get the dress sewn!
How is that going Monica?
Let me know how you like them!
I haven’t had a chance to try the cookies yet, but its on the agenda for tonight. I did, however, get the dress done (today!). Well, I still have to hem it an bead it, but it fits! So far today, we have made no-bake chocolate peanut butter oat cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and fudge. We still have coal cookies, gingersnaps, sugar cookies, & gingerbread cookies left to make. Wheeee!!!
wow! that’s alot!
Well, we made the sugar cookie dough the night before Christmas… and put it in the fridge to rest overnight…. And there it sat until tonight. It rolls absolutely amazingly, and cooks up wonderfully!!! Mega Yummy!! The children are eating them as fast as we can pull them out of the oven.
They freeze well too, thanks for the review, momica..happy New Year!
It is summer time and we are trying this recipe. I like the melting the butter and then adding the sugar. We are trying the version with baking powder and hopefully that’s the better of the two choices. I wonder if the recipe could use a little of both and get the best of both worlds. I hopefully will come back after we are done and give a review.
well, the baking soda makes them soft, and the baking powder makes them a little crisper..so both together would negate each one. Good luck
Marye,
I’m featuring Christmas recipes on my blog next week. Do you mind if I use your sugar cookie photo and link to your blog?
Jerri- SUre go ahead.
Hi I was just wondering when to put the vanilla extract in? I dont see it in the recipe…
Kelsey..sorry..it goes in with the eggs.
What about the recipe for the frosting?? I want to ship them to my gf in Iraq. Will it melt because of the heat????
Shirley-
Just got an email from my son today and he mentioned that it was 70 in the day and about 45 at night. I don;t think the icing will melt off, just let it dry and harden before you wrap it up.
Does this really take a tablespoon of vanilla or did you mean a teaspoon?
Jean I mean a tablespoon of the best natural bourbon vanilla that you can find…and for even more flavor sometimes I ad 1/2 inch of vanilla bean to the melted butter, let it soak for awhile, and then remove the pod and scrape the seeds into the dough.
I made these cookies with my kids last night and the taste is VERY YUMMY! But we used baking soda instead of powder(recommended for soft cookies). They turned out more like a cake or bread consistency. I would definitely recommend only using baking powder, so they will hold together better. I have to repeat the flavor was AWESOME! The kids loved them. I had to keep them from eating them all since we were making them for a class Christmas party. Thanks for the recipe, when we make them again( the right way) I am sure they will be wonderful!
Glad that you are happy with them.
They are wonderful, imho
They were too sugary for me.
MAruti..Really?! isn’t it interesting how we all have such different tastes!
Are these cookies good because I need to bake some for a school project????
Uh..Melina? Read the comments. They are the best.
every week i purchase a dozen iced sugar cookies from Marsh (a grocery store where i reside in Indianapolis) because they are SO delicious. after trying this recipe, i am done spending an extra $3.30/wk ! these are indeed the best i have ever tried. thanks so much marye, mary, and her mother-in-law for giving my sweet tooth the perfect fix :]
Catherine, I passed your comment on to Mar, and I am really glad you like them!
What a yummy little recipe! I was surprised by how easy it was.They are the perfect balance of cookie/cake and not too sweet at all. That means I get to indulge in a white chocolate frosting…they can totally take it!
The dough is very soft, so I would recommend the overnight chill or frequent stays in the freezer.
Go the distance and add the vanilla pod..yum!
Thanks for sharing!
thanks Zom! I love this recipe…
do you have a frosting recipe to go with these cookies? I cannot wait to try them!
Christie, Just google royal frosting..it is the one that hardens completely…. you can also use egg yolk and food color and paint the cookies with a brush