Last year, Christmas was a blur. We put up a tree, we made lots of the recipes we always made but it didn’t feel remotely like Christmas. And I didn’t honestly expect it to be, since it’ll never be the same again. Last year, it was about getting through somehow. So much of what I think of Christmas is wrapped up in my mom and always will be, as we lost her so close to the holiday last year.
This year, I wanted to do my best to make it more spirited, vowing to err on the side of too much Christmas to ensure that Q really got Christmas this year. We put up our first tall tree (bought on clearance after Christmas last year) and put up garland with lights on the banister. I spent hours watching holiday movies on Netflix and wrapping an extra tall stack of presents with sparkly paper.
And I planned to make lots of sweet Christmas treats. Last year, my friend Jocelyn came out to New Jersey and spent the day with me baking sugar cookies, trying to help me get into the Christmas spirit. This year, I decided to make some again – this time to serve at the family’s annual gingerbread house decorating gathering.
I’ll admit, I’ve always been pretty underwhelmed by sugar cookie recipes. They taste alright and turn out way too flat and crispy. I did some searching and decided this one on Allrecipes looked promising. There was one comment with some modifications that caught my eye, so the below runs down the modified version which worked great for me.
Prep time: 2 hours, 20 mins
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In one bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Melt the butter over the stove, keeping low so as to avoid reaching a boil. Once melted, mix with the sugar until fluffy. Next, beat in an egg at a time before stirring in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour/baking soda/salt mix, blending in until mixed. Cover dough, and chill for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. I baked on ungreased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. On a clean floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough. The recipe called for 1/4 inch thickness but I went a touch thicker to ensure soft, fluffy cookies. Use cookie cutters to cut out the cookies.
I baked these between 8-10 minutes, starting with 5 minutes per batch and baking in additional 1 minute increments to ensure these turned out just right! As the recipe promised, the cookies will look a bit too pale to be done but yet – they’ll be ready to go. You want the center to look more set when you take them out. Remember they will continue to bake a few minutes after you take them out, so take them out and let them cook those two minutes before determining if they’re done or need to go back in.
I chose to let these cool overnight to ensure that they were easier to ice. For the icing, I was curious to see if this recipe for best tasting sugar cookie icing lived up to its name. I noticed that most of the recipes had light corn syrup, which I think must help with the glossy finish after the icing dries. Ice with less in the middle than you think you’ll need, as the icing will continue to spread towards the edges. I elected to go with some bought Betty Crocker icing pouches to outline the cookies versus turning the recipe into a stiffer version to use specifically for this to save a bit of a step.
At 33 weeks pregnant, this multi-day project turned into a bit of an unexpectedly long one I didn’t quite realize I’d signed on for. But it wasn’t a waste at all. These cookies turned out so cute, I wished I had them ready to take to Theodora’s cookie exchange! Perhaps next year.
What Christmas treats do you bake every year?
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