Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Hello My Lovlies!

Well tonight , I came home, even though after work , I was supposed to work at my second job at a cute cupcakery ... anyway well I broke my foot and directed by my urgent care doctor to stay off it, I came home to see my Mom's Favorite Sugar Cookie recipe open on the kitchen table.. She immediately asked if I would make the cookies for her . Instantly I responded with a curt "No! ..... On second thought... yes... "

At that very instant I decided that while these ARE NOT by any means my favorite cookie .. I mean they might not even fall in my top 10 .. they would be the perfect beginning to my blog ... They are in fact , Sugary, colorful, crisp, yet not my ideal soft lofty sugar cookie, so for me they are... Semi-Sweet....

Read more ( Once I figure out how to  insert a "jump") After the jump

Ok! I did it! I was able to insert a jump! woo!! :)

so I hope that little picture was enough to entice you into looking at my mom's very favorite cookie !  Here is my  process in picture and my added wit ... shh .. stop laughing...

First we have the ingredients that I will be using ....

Oh .. and those eggs too ... heh, I'm not so good at this step by step thing. hell what did you expect Pioneer Woman on day one !!? OH ! by the way. I only use FARM fresh eggs straight from my very own (dad's) Chickens :)  If you are using store bought eggs make extra sure you use the biggest eggs you can find... My chickens are like women these days pushing out the 12 lb babies , its just not natural, but damn its impressive!

This recipe calls for Margarine, Butter, Confectioners Sugar AND Granulated Sugar.. In this case I used only one stick Margarine ( I doubled the recipe FYI) and subbed the rest Butter ... I would however NOT suggest doing that with the sugars, use what they call for folks...

Add those Monster Eggs, One at a time .. be careful with the shells.... I add them in with the mixer off  so if the eggshell drops in it is easier to pick it out .. ( who am I kidding, I don't ACTUALLY do that , but it's a DAMN good Idea! )

Then add the flour.. I add it all... and then START IT SLOW.... pulse the mixer... this I actually DO because I have worn a mixer full of flour one too many times...and while I have a collection of LOVELY aprons .. I never seem to remember to put them on until its far too late ... far far too late....

Ok. This is important . Mix the flour into the butter, egg , sugar , vanilla , etc etc .. JUST UNTIL IT'S INCOORPORATED.. don't overdo it .. My mom always overdoes it .... and by overdoes it I mean she likes to turn on the mixer and walks away .... well what's wrong with that you ask? Well I'm going to go all Alton Brown on you (waves* Hi Alton!! ) When you Mix Flour with anything liquid ( YES the butter mixture is a liquid at this stage) you are forming a glue , the more you mix the flour the stronger the glue gets, which in turn, is turning your cookies into paste.... you don't want paste cookies do you ?? I didn't think so. SO Moral of the story! Mix JUST until the White of the flour is JUST about mixed in - turn the mixer off , scrape down the bowl and do the last few turns of the batter by hand with your spatula .. You will thank me .. your mouth with thank me.

Prepare your pans. I don't care if they tell you not to .. I always prepare my pans.. and Baking Pam is how I do it . End of story.

Insert LOVELY picture of walnut ( large walnut sized like .. shell on walnut sized dough balls here, of which I forgot to take picture of... ) I told you I'm not Ree Drummond.. Don't Judge me.

Now you can roll your dough balls in Sugar , I used coarse Colored sugar, often you can find this at your friendly neighborhood Wal*Mart or A.C.Moore.... Cake Decorating Supply Shop .. or hell .. roll them in some plain ole sugar , they will taste just a great  :)  I should also mention , give these guy's some space on the pan, they will need room  to grow, no more than 12 on your average baking sheet.

Next, Use some Flat object such as the bottom of a measurement device (seen here) or a glass, or .. whatever you have clean and available to.....

Gently Press the dough ball down so it is now a cookie sized flat round ....

You'll end up with these little Gem's

Bake'em up , I use a 360 degree oven, 10 minutes exactly.

THEN you end up with THESE Gems! Transfer to a cooling rack and let them be! DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES let anyone steal any! Such as your mother.... I fail in this department EVERY time...

Once they are cool ... You can FINALLY taste, these Buttery, Delightful, Sugary, Crisp , Old Fashioned, Sugar Cookies!

This is just how I like to stack cookies before they make it to a pretty little plate ..... and my belly ...

ENJOY!

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Ref: Mary Engelbreit's Cookies Cookbook - The Queen's Best Recipes

1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, Room Temp

1/2 cup (1 stick) Margarine Room Temp

1/2 cup Confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

1 Large Egg

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Salt

2 1/2 cups all purpose Flour

1 cup course white or colored sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees ( NOTE I use a 360 degree oven) , prepare pans .

2. In Large Bowl beat together Butter , Margarine , conf. Sugar and Granulated sugar until Light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. 

3. Mix together the flour , baking powder, and salt, add to the butter mixture and incoorporate.

4. Roll Dough into Balls , and then roll in the Coarse sugar , place on prepared pans  2 inches apart. Flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass  into a 2 inch round and bake for 10 minutes. 

5. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely.