HappyCook80's Recipe

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Category: Recipes

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Dough:
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for preparing pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2 3/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour, plus extra if needed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
egg white glaze, optional
1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Decorative Icing:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, melted
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoons milk or water
vegetable food coloring
decorations, optional
chopped nuts, raisins, granulated or coarse sugar, plain or tinted

Position racks to divide the oven in thirds. Lightly butter the cookie sheets or cover them with baking parchment.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and well-blended. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand.

Sift into the egg mixture, the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in, then beat with a spoon or mixer on lowest speed until thoroughly incorporated. Form the dough into a ball and if it sticks to your hands too much to handle easily, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. Excess flour makes cookies tough, so don't be too generous. Divide the dough into two or three parts and wrap separately, and refrigerate. Work with one part at a time.

On a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of lightly floured wax paper, roll the dough out about 1/8 inch thick. Cut shapes with cookie cutters dipped in flour. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies onto the baking sheet, placing them about 1 inch apart. If desired, brush the cookies with egg white glaze, then sprinkle the tops with finely chopped nuts or sugar. Or decorate with icing after baking.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until cookies are lightly golden around the edges, 8 to 12 minutes. If baking appears to be uneven, rotate pans in the oven halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on the pans 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make decorative icing: Combine the butter, sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add milk a few drops at a time to make spreadable. Tint with food coloring, added a drop at a time.
Yields 60 cookies.