Wednesday, October 14, 2009

sugar cookies.

pumpin_cookie

as promised...

the most fantastic sugar cookies on the face of this earth.

you may have seen these before on my blog here or here. so i figured it was due time to share the recipe [the cookies in these other posts actually look better than the pumpkins. just sayin].

also, as promised, where they came from: a good church friend from california taught us how to make these when i was in high school - and i will love her forever.

deb child's sugar cookies
2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 egg yolks
2 t. vanilla
4 1/2 c. flour

icing
2 lb. bag of powdered sugar
3 T. powdered meringue
1 t. clear vanilla
1 t. butter flavoring
1/2 t. almond flavoring (optional)

for cookies:
first, cream butter and sugar. then, add egg yolks and vanilla. add flour to mixture gradually. the  dough will roll out best if it has been chilled for a few hours. roll out cookie dough to 1/4-1/2 inch thick, and cut into desired shapes. place cookies on a buttered cookie sheet or a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

icing:
mix ingredients. [seriously, that's about it]. Add water to the mixture incredible slowly, until the icing is at the proper consistency for piping through a bag - but it should still be pretty thick. then, feel free to add some color.

and here are some tips.
it's preferable not to do everything at once. when i try to finish these up all in one day, i start to go crazy and the icing job shows it. maybe make up the cookie dough one day and bake and frost them the next. or cook them with a helper - it makes life a lot easier.

i roll my cookies out thick - like 1/2 inch thick - before cutting the dough into desired shapes. they taste better that way.

watch your oven to figure out the exact cooking time. i take my cookies out when they just barely start thinking they want to look the least bit golden on the edges. they'll be softer and more awesome and last longer.

and here's the biggest tip of all - icing. it looks hard, right? wrong. use a piping bag to frost an outline on your cookie - i frost all of my outlines at once. then, thin the remaining icing with water [it doesn't take very much]. use this thin icing with a spoon to fill the inside of the cookies that have already been outlined - that's how the frosting gets so smooth. and if you have any piping icing left, use it for further cookie decoration.

let the icing dry overnight. trust me. then wrap them up, or serve them at a party and impress all your friends.

happy baking!



xoxo.
jana

if i'm a terrible instruction giver, please feel free to tell me and ask questions :)

4 left some love.:

Katy October 14, 2009 at 12:46 PM  

Oh my, I remember these cookies. They are the most incredible sugar cookies I have ever tasted, no joke. That year she was in YW I anticipated my birthday for months, waiting for my turn to get a cookie. Thanks for posting the recipe!

Kerri October 14, 2009 at 10:48 PM  

i hate those things (i actually really love them and can't stop eating them)!! I can only make them if they are going somewhere other than my house!!!

Tiff October 18, 2009 at 6:20 AM  

I stopped trying to make sugar cookies years ago because they never turned out how I wanted them. This recipe really makes me excited to try again though!! I just finished making the dough which I could seriously sit and eat by itself, lol. Wish me luck! Can't wait for more recipes. Thanks so much :)

The Andersens November 4, 2009 at 4:25 PM  

You motivated me to use my cookie cutters for the first time:) They were my first sugar cookies and we had so much fun making them. I was so proud of our cookies I posted them on or blog. Thanks for posting the recipe Jana!