Wednesday's Weekly Recipe: COOKIES!!!!!

OH MY goodness! DO YOU KNOW WHAT I am looking forward to?
Here's a hint... it is NOT having something huge planned every weekend in October... or that the "holiday crazy" starts November 1 (may need to start my tips on surviving the holidays...for my own sanity!).

I'm looking forward to ....

 All SORTS of excuses for COOKIES!!!!!!! 
Oh GOODNESS! I am way too excited about this, I know...

But just LOOK at these:
 

      

Okay, so to be fair... cute and adorable cookies are great and all, but  no amount of cuteness will be remembered if the cookie breaks your teeth or tastes like last year's fruitcake. 

So, to start your Holiday cookie extravaganza... here is a reliable recipe for sugar cookies:

Serves:30 to 40

Prep time:30 mins

Cook time:10 mins

Total time:40 mins

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Cream together the  butter and sugar with a mixer until smooth.
3. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg.
4. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder and mix together.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time and continue using the mixer until everything is combined and the mixture is crumbly.
6. Wet your hands and knead it by hand. Separate it into 2 or 3 dough balls. Cover the remaining dough balls with plastic wrap while you are rolling. (Don't chill the dough)
7. Place the dough on a floured surface, sprinkle a small amount of flour on top to keep the rolling pin from sticking and roll it out until it's about ¼" thick.
8. Using your favorite cookie cutters, cut out the shapes, then use a metal spatula to transfer the shapes to a parchment lined cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes.

Notes

1. If your dough is too "crumbly" it might mean your butter wasn't softened enough. But no worries! Add ½ tsp to 1 tsp of water to the dough and kneed it in until it sticks together properly. You might need to add more water when you are rolling the scraps a second time.
2. Cooking for 8 minutes will result in a softer cookie with a lighter color. Cooking for 10 or 11 minutes will result in a firmer texture with a more golden color. Ovens will vary, so keep an eye on yours, but I cooked these cookies for just over 9 minutes.

Enjoy!

K