Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Old School Sugar Cookies


I like to bake.
I bake a lot.
It seems like I'm always baking something for school or for Joj to take to work. I usually make cookies because they seem to offer the most bang for your buck. While I have a few good stand bys I'm always on the look out for a new cookie recipe. I'm kind of a stickler when it come my cookies. They have to be pretty, chewy and easy. Well, I think I'm in love...

When my friend Jenny P was in town this summer, we were talking about sugar cookies. Now I have a sugar cookie recipe for "cut outs", but that takes too much effort. I've been using the cake box recipe and while that is good, I'm kind of over them. So Jenny sent me the Paradise Bakery cookie recipe and I was going to try that, but I didn't have cake flour (it was one of those things I had kept in my pantry forever and then finally pitched only to need it a week later) Jenny mentioned the recipe must be followed exactly, so I didn't make them. However, now I was craving some sugar cookies and my search began.

Allrecipes.com is one of my new favorite sites. The best part is that is has recipe reviews. I love to hear what people have to say and how they tweak the recipes to make them better. Anyhoo, I found a recipe and everyone loved it (I always look for over 100 reviews with at least 4 stars) The best part was that I had everything on hand so I whipped some up. Can I just tell you they were YUMMY!! They totally reminded me of the cookies you would get with your lunch at school. They were slightly crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. Did I say they were yummy. I took them to the PTA meeting the other night and they disappeared very quickly.

So, if you are looking for an "old school" sugar cookie recipe in which I'm willing to bet all the ingredients are already in your pantry, look no further.

Enjoy!!
:0)


Old School Sugar Cookies (makes 3 dozen)




1 1/4 cups white sugar (divided)
1 cup butter
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar




DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).


Cream together 1 C sugar and butter.


Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
Add flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Stir.
Form dough into walnut size balls (I use a 1T ice cream scoop) roll in 1/4 sugar and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Don't flatten.


Bake 10 minutes, until tops are cracked and just turning color.


Leave them on the sheet for about 5 minutes to finish cooking and cool.