Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

I used to think that sugar cookies were only for Christmastime.  I used to make them with my mom on Christmas Eve, along with a gingerbread house.  We'd frost them and pour sprinkles on them, and put them out for Santa. But since reading Annie's tutorial on how to decorate with royal icing, I've discovered that sugar cookies can be for any occasion!


I had some girlfriends over for a Valentine's cookie decorating party - it was so much fun!  We made lots of icing colors and had sprinkles and just went to town decorating a ton of cookies and watching The Bachelor :)


I've tried several types of sugar cookies over the past year, but this recipe is my new favorite.  It is my Aunt Kathy's recipe, and everyone who has tried these cookies loves them!  I took a big batch into work today, and even people who said they don't normally like sugar cookies loved these!  So there you go - these cookies convert people.  You should whip up a batch!

Aunt Kathy's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
[yield approx. 5 dozen cookies, depending on how big you cut them and how thick you roll them out. I rolled them to 1/8 inch]


Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. shortening
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. sour cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 6 c. flour

Directions:

1. Cream butter, shortening, sugar in large bowl. Set aside.
2. Add baking soda to egg yolks in a medium bowl.
3. Combine sour cream, yolks and vanilla; mix well.
4. In another bowl, sift salt, flour, and baking powder.
5. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternating with the sour cream mixture. (Aunt Kathy's note - this dough can get pretty crumbly at this stage, so don't be afraid to use your hands to mix it together!) 
6. Roll out dough and use cookie cutters. (There is no need to chill the dough before rolling it out.  In fact, it makes it much harder to do so. I chilled my dough and ended up needing it to be warmer in order to roll it out. Just use a well-floured counter, and you'll be good to go!)
7. Bake at 350 about 10 minutes depending on thickness.
8. Decorate with royal icing.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

It's that time of year! Time for pumpkin recipes, fall soups and chilis, and of course, decorated sugar cookies!  This was my first time using this royal icing technique.  I've seen it everywhere: beautiful cookies with a beautiful matte sheen layer of icing, decorated in every possible color.  I was lazy and only wanted to use one color (ok, two if you count the normal white).  I followed Annie's tutorial on how to flood a cookie with royal icing, but basically, you take normal royal icing, pipe it along the edge of your cookie, then let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then take some of the icing, add a little bit of water to it, until it is thinner and runs off your spoon, and then "flood" the interior of the cookie, using a toothpick to help bring the icing to the edge.

I made these cookies pretty late at night, so I didn't take any pictures of the process :(  But it's really easy to make a cool spiderweb design: before flooding the cookie, take some of the thinner icing and put it into another container.  Color it with black food coloring, and then proceed to flood the cookies with the white icing.  After flooding, while the icing is still wet, put some of the black icing into a pastry bag with a tip attached, and pipe a "target" onto the cookies (as shown in my horrible MS Paint drawing below).

Then take a toothpick and drag lines from the center of the cookie, outwards, pulling the black circles into a spider web!  Let the icing harden overnight, and you will have beautiful spiderweb cookies!

Sugar Cookies
adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 ½ cups flour

Directions:
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. Yields ~24 cookies.

Royal Icing
from Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

In large bowl, mix the egg whites and vanilla with an electric mixer until frothy. Add confectioners' sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes.  Color if desired, and transfer to piping bags for use.

-Erin