Sugar cookies are a winter thing. Christmas and sugar cookies? Like peanut butter and jelly. So making a batch in July is not something I would normally do.
But these aren’t just any sugar cookies. These are the famous sugar cookies from the top secret recipe of Will’s aunt Courtney. Apparently Courtney makes the best of several things and so, as I set forth to execute these, the pressure was on.
For being a top secret recipe, Aunt Courtney seemed very pleased to share with us. And I’m glad she did, because these are pretty darn good. Those Southerners, I tell ya. They sure do know how to work magic with butter and all its fatty cousins.
That was the ringer in this recipe – margarine – something I have never used before. Coming from a family that touted the benefits of soy milk and tofu, products like margarine were not frequently in our refrigerator.
Turns out this fake butter product is significantly cheaper than butter, though, and so that was the first plus. The second was, well, it takes your average sugar cookie to the next level.
Southern Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Courtney Richardson
* 1 tsp. vanilla
1. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
2. Cream margarine and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs slowly, one at a time, mixing until incorporated.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in threw stages, scraping down the side of the bowl after each incorporation.
5. Shape dough into a disc, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Roll out dough into sheets that are 1/8″ thick. Cut shapes using cookie cutters. (You can use a drinking glass if no fun shapes are available to you).
8. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
10. Allow to cool completely on baking racks.
Will specially requested the dinosaur shapes. Just the two, even though we have over 100 cookie cutters haha.* 1/2 tsp. vanilla
* Food coloring (optional)
1. mix powdered sugar, vanilla and milk until desired consistency – runny enough to manipulate but not so runny that the will melt off the cookie. Go slowly when adding milk. Start with 1 tbs. and add until the icing is smooth. Go slowly.
Mmmm… dinosaurs. And a ‘K’ for me.
I ended up using half the above icing and half some left over frosting from a can. I just don’t like the way powdered sugary icing tastes. Am I doing something wrong? Shouldn’t it taste more like sugar and less like powder. But the cookies themselves? Buttery, rich and exactly how you remember them from Christmases past.
These are mostly for Will. I’m not a huge sugar cookie fan and lately my teeth have been hurting from sugary foods (ugh). Luckily, Will approves of these so I don’t suspect I am going to have to eat these all on my own.