Grandma Dorothys Sugar Cookies Recipes

GRANDMA'S ALL-OCCASION SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together and keep close by.
• Working in a mixer with the paddle attachment, if you have one, beat the butter at medium speed for a minute or so, until it is smooth. Still beating, add the sugar and continue to beat for about 2 minutes, until the butter is light and pale. Add the egg and the yolk and the vanilla and beat another minute or two. Reduce the mixer speed to low and steadily add the flour mixture, mixing only until it has been incorporated. In fact, because this dough is best when worked least, you might want to stop the mixer before all the flour is thoroughly blended into the dough and finish the job with a rubber spatula. When mixed, the dough will be soft, creamy and appealingly malleable.
• Turn the dough out onto a counter and divide it in half. If you want to make roll-out cookies, shape each half into a disk and wrap in plastic. If you want to make slice-and-bake cookies, shape each half into a chubby sausage (the diameter of the sausage is up to you - I usually like cookies that are about 2 inches or more across) and wrap in plastic. Whether you're going to roll or slice the dough, the packets must be chilled for at least 2 hours.
• Getting ready to bake the cookies: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have two lined baking sheets at the ready. For these, I prefer to bake a single sheet at a time. You can fill both sheets and keep one sheet covered in the refrigerator while you bake the other.
• If you are making slice-and-bake cookies, use a ruler to mark off 1/4-inch intervals on each roll of dough. With a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice the dough into rounds and place the rounds on one of the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie.
• If you are making roll-out cookies, work with one packet of dough at a time and roll the dough between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch, lifting the plastic or paper and turning the dough over often so that it rolls evenly. Lift off the top sheet of plastic or paper and cut the cookies - I like a 2-inch round cookie cutter for these. Pull away the excess dough, saving the scraps for re-rolling, and carefully lift the rounds onto the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie. (This is a soft dough and you might have trouble peeling away the excess or lifting the cut outs. If so, cover the dough, chill it for about 15 minutes and try again.) After you've rolled and cut the second packet of dough, you can form the scraps into a disk, chill, roll, cut and bake them.
• Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the sheet at the mid-point. The cookies should feel firm, but they should not color much if at all. Remove the pan from the oven and dust the cookies with sugar or cinnamon-sugar, if you'd like. Let them rest 1 minute before carefully lifting them onto a rack to cool to room temperature.

GRANDMA'S CLASSIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and light; this should take about 5 minutes with an electric mixer, or 10 minutes by hand. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture alternately to the butter and sugar mixture with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
• Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and foil and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. (If the dough is chilled overnight, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling out so that task is easier.)
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough using a floured rolling pin to about 1/4" thickness. Cut with cookie cutters.
• Or you can roll the dough into 1" balls, place on cookie sheets and flatten with the bottom of a water glass dipped in sugar.
• Bake the cookies on ungreased cookie sheets for 7 to 10 minutes until they are very ​lightly golden brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for about a minute, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

GRANDMA MINNIE'S OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) .
• Over a large bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture resembles cornmeal. Stir in lightly beaten egg, cream, and vanilla. Blend well. Dough may be chilled, if desired.
• On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Sprinkle with sugar; cut into desired shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until delicately brown.

GRANDMA'S SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Add eggs and mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to creamed mixture. Chill until firm, about 1 hour., On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut shapes with cookie cutters; place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 7-12 minutes (depending on size) or until light golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, extract and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Tint with food coloring. Decorate cookies as desired.

GRANDMA DOROTHY'S SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter, oil and sugars.
• Mix in eggs and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl stir dry ingredients together and then mix into wet ingredients,.
• Chill at least 4 hours, better if chilled over night.
• Roll out very thinly (1/4") and cut with cookie cutters. Use powdered sugar instead of flour for rolling to avoid a burnt flour taste on cookies.
• Bake at 350 for 8-10 minute or until browned.
• Parchment paper recommended for baking.
• Prep time doesn't include chilling.

GRANDMA JOYCE'S SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream together margarine and sugar.
• Beat in eggs one at a time.
• Combine oil, salt, and vanilla.
• Combine flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
• Alternate add the oil mixture and dry ingredient mixture to batter. Don't worry if you have a lot of extra dry ingredients at the end; continue to add a little at a time so you don't flour your whole kitchen.
• Roll into balls.
• Flatten; add sprinkles if you want.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to13 minutes.

GRANDMA'S DROP SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat sugar and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Mix flour, coconut flakes, vanilla extract, salt, and baking soda into creamed butter mixture until dough is smooth. Spoon dough onto a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges of cookies are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.