Grandma Goldies 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 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'S SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, cream the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and the shortening. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Alternate adding the buttermilk with the dry ingredients.
• Roll dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in colored sugar if desired. Place them 2 inches apart on an unprepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove to cool on wire racks.

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'S BUTTERMILK SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• 2. Mix sugar and eggs very well. Then add buttermilk and baking powder, blend well.
• 3. Next, add baking soda and flour, mixing well. Stir in Crisco until blended.
• 4. Place in refrigerator and chill.
• 5. Roll cookies into 1/4 inch thickness and cut to desired shape.
• 6. Place cookies on baking sheet and bake on bottom rack until puffy (about 8 min.), then place baking sheet on upper rack for 2 to 3 minutes until browned.
• 7. Let cool and turn onto platter.

GRANNY'S SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy.
• Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
• Stir together dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture until completely blended.
• Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Cut with various shaped cookie cutters dipped in flour.
• Transfer cookies to ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.
• Cool on wire racks.
• Frosting: Mix together sugar, butter, vanilla and milk until desired degree of spreading consistency; add milk if you want thinner frosting.
• Add food coloring to obtain desired color.
• Spread frosting over cookies and decorate with sprinkles.