Every year, right after the Thanksgiving holiday, instead of joining the hustle and bustle of crowds at the shopping malls, I spend quality time with my cookbooks. As a chef and lover of good food, I like to cook. And the gifts I like to give; Maine maple granola, herb-infused vinegar, a sinfully sweet confection, or Spicy Pepper Jam, are also the ones I like to receive.
When our brood was young, I started baking holiday cookies for everyone to garnish. A festive family activity, holiday cookie decorating became a household holiday tradition that soon expanded to include their school classmates, swim team buddies and cousins. I shipped dozens of cookies to nieces and nephews, complete with cups of decorations and frosting for “glue”.
The recipe for Holiday Sugar Cookies is from my archives, originally adapted from a recipe in Eating Well magazine. These are buttery, melt-in-your mouth simple, sugar cookies. A combination of whole wheat flour and cake or pastry flour sneaks in a tasty and healthy extra gram of fiber. Not to worry if you do not have those flours on hand, substitute regular all-purpose flour instead.
The batter for these delicious cookies is easy to prepare with a good mixer but be sure to have the butter at room temperature. The dough rolls out well, and cuts into attractive shapes. A well-floured surface is the key to prevent sticking on the counter and lifting nicely to the sheet pan. Plus, the dough is pliable enough to reroll and shape again. Uniform thickness of the cookies allows for the best baking. Watch carefully to not burn them. Fortunately, extra crisp cookies still make for good eating.
With a nod to food safety, I learned to portion decorations and frosting in separate containers for everyone. This allows for plenty of sanitary “fingerlickin” and sampling. As a plus for the parents, this creates a more peaceful decorating session and eliminates sibling rivalry.
Our tribe left the nest a while ago, but now the grandchildren and their cousins and offspring are ready to enjoy the fun. My helpful husband carefully packs a box for each family, complete with cookies, decorations, and glue. For reference and hopefully future baking on their own, I enclose a copy of the recipe.
My gift in return and ultimate joy is the photographs and letters they send me, regaling their good times and creativity. This season, share the spirit, make something special and give from the heart.
Holiday Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 tbsp butter at room temperature 1 four-ounce stick
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour *
- 1 1/2 cup cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Milk, as needed for the cookie dough to stick together
Instructions
- Assemble ingredients and tools. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine butter and sugar and beat until fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth.
- Whisk together the whole wheat flour, cake flour and baking powder.
- Add to the creamed mixture, mix on low speed until just combined. If needed, add a bit of milk to the dough so that it forms a ball in the bowl.
- Divide the dough in half and press each piece into a disk.
- On a well-floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out cookies, rerolling the scraps of dough.
- Place the cookies on the parchment lined sheet pan.
- Bake the cookies for 9 -12 minutes, until just golden on the edges. The time will depend upon the thickness of the cookies. Watch carefully! Let the cookies cool completely on a rack.
Cheryl's Notes
Nutrition
Holiday Icing
Ingredients
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tbsp dried egg white powder available at Rooster Brothers, Walmart, specialty cake stores
- 1 tsp vanilla, orange or peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup water
- food coloring optional
- water for thinning as needed
Instructions
- Assemble ingredients and tools.
- Sift powdered sugar, cream of tartar and egg white powder into the bowl of your electric mixer.
- Add the flavoring and water, beating at low speed until well mixed.
- Increase the speed to high and beat until icing has thickened and holds peaks, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- The frosting may be thinned with water and tinted with food coloring to make a “paint” for cookies.
