Loretta Painter's Soft Sugar Cookies

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Book Description

From the original short story "The Giving Christmas Cookie," which shows a family brought together by a special cookie recipe at Christmas, to nearly 50 scrumptious recipes with mouth watering photos, to the timely, easy directions for making homemade "Gifts in a Jar," Christmas Cookies Are for Giving shows that old-fashioned Christmas gifts are an antidote to cynicism about Christmas. The secret to celebrating your family and friends may not be in the mall, but in your pantry where you’ll find the ingredients to make Butterball Santas, Cranberry Decadent Cookies, and Vanillekipferl—The Giving Christmas Cookie.

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Christmas Cookies Are for Giving: Recipes, Stories and Tips for Making Heartwarming Gifts

Authors: Kristin Johnson, Mimi Cummins

Date: October 2003

ISBN: 0972347399

Publisher: TYR Publishing

Hardcover

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Loretta Painter's Soft Sugar Cookies
Recipe from: Christmas Cookies Are for Giving
by Kristin Johnson, Mimi Cummins
Cookbook Heaven at Recipelink.com

Loretta Painter owns a restaurant and catering business in Stewardson, Illinois. She says that using margarine rather than butter keeps the cookies softer longer. I love this recipe because the cookies are indeed soft and chewy and have a wonderful flavor from the addition of sour cream.

Makes about 48 cookies, depending on the size cookie cutters you use

1 cup (250 ml) margarine
1 1/2 cup (375 ml) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
3/4 cup (175 ml) sour cream
4 cups (1 l) all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract; mix well. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour into the margarine mixture until well incorporated. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill several hours or until dough is firm enough to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180C). On a lightly floured board, roll out to about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.

Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake about 15 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Let cool about 1 minute on the baking sheet and then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Decorate with your favorite icing (we recommend Royal Icing; recipe found in the book Christmas Cookies Are for Giving).

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month if not frosted or up to 1 week if frosted.

These cookies ship well if cut into regular geometric shapes (such as circles or squares) and packed very carefully. They can break during shipping if you cut them into irregular or delicate shapes like Santa Claus and snowflakes. If you want to use fancy cookie cutters, it is best to hand-deliver these cookies.

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