Grandma’s Sugar Cookies

I have been going through my family’s recipes, and I found one for Sugar Cookies, which I thought was from my Grandma.

When I find a recipe, I like to compare recipes for similar cookies on the internet and in books, just to compare the types of sugar used, salted or unsalted butter, and any variations in methods. This is the eighth recipe in my 12 Cookies of Christmas series (or 12 Days of Cookies).

When I was comparing recipes though, I found many identical recipes and very similar recipes, for example at eggs.com, there was one contributed by the Egg Farmers of Manitoba. https://www.eggs.ca/recipes/old-fashioned-sugar-cookies Now my great-grandma had a restaurant for a time in Manitoba (that was a bit of genealogy detective work), so maybe there is some connection there!

I had also previously posted some cookie science/tips at https://gardenlove.food.blog/2019/11/23/how-to-bake-the-best-cookies/

I wanted to do a sugar cookie recipe as sugar cookies are what I think of at Christmas – we always made sugar cookies with the children at Christmas and put them by the tree for Santa. We will save a few cookies again for Santa this year.

Grandma’s Sugar Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Sugar Cookie Decoration:

1/2 cup icing sugar, and one tablespoon milk

sugar cookie sprinkles

Sugar Cookie Preparation:

Beat Softened Unsalted Butter with granulated sugar

Beat sugar and butter together in mixing bowl.

Beat vanilla and egg in to butter/sugar mixture

Beat in vanilla and eggs.

Gradually add and beat in dry ingredients

Gradually add flour, salt and baking powder mixing in with beaters.

Place manageable sized balls of the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Flatten, and roll out with rolling pin, till dough is at “cookie-width”. It is best not to roll too thin, as the cookies become fragile and more difficult to work with.

It’s easier to roll out the dough if it’s placed between 2 sheets of parchment paper

Alternatively, flour surface and rolling pin and roll out dough

Cut cookies into shapes, with cookie cutters. (If cookie cutters become too sticky – dip in all purpose flour). Place cut cookies on to baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Place cut cookie shapes on parchment paper lined or greased cookie sheet

Bake cookies in preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Note that in my gas convection oven, I baked the cookies for 12 minutes before there was even a hint of brown!

Let cookies cool.

Paint icing mix onto colled sugar cookies with a pastry brush

Mix icing sugar with a tablespoon of milk. Stir with fork or whisk until the icing is workable. – Add more milk if it is too thick, or let sit for 20 minutes if the icing is too runny. Brush icing on cooled cookies, and sprinkle cookies with decorative sugar.