Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Really good sugar cookies.

How's everyone out there in blogland? Are you having fun, flipping errantly back and forth between regular, domestic, cozy Sweetfern and Caulk-Gun Wielding Sweetfern? I feel pleasantly schizophrenic, myself. In Gilbertsville, it's like, LET'S GO! GET THINGS DONE! EAT CANDY BARS FOR LUNCH! I DON'T CARE! And back home, it's like, hey man, maybe I'll make some sugar cookies. Maybe I'll spend all evening with my tree, my kitchen, and my cat, just savoring the put-together-ness of our house. (And thinking, too, of how long it's going to be before Gilbertsville is anywhere near as organized and orchestrated.)

It's nice, in a way. I can be a badass caulk-gun wielder on weekends, busting out projects all Rosie the Riveter-like, and then come home to my kitchen and embrace my inner domestic diva. It's the best of both worlds.

So, yeah. Anyway. The cookies.

I think Pete has been missing us fiercely over the weekends we've been gone. He's a people cat. This is why he chose to sit next to my stand mixer and endure Christmas music in the coldest room of the house, watching interestedly as I mixed up the dough.

Anyone want the recipe? It's a ringer, I'll guarantee. Even if you're on the phone with your mom, yakking away about Christmas plans and presents, and burn the first two sheets, they still taste amazing.

Mom's Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
2 3/4 cups flour

Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer, while your curious gray cat looks on. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Meanwhile, whisk the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl. Add the flour in thirds, while the mixer churns away on low speed, allowing about thirty seconds between additions.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and grease up some cookie sheets.

Flour your counter and roll out the dough. Cut your shapes. I'm a snowflake girl, personally, but my mom's standbys were cows, pigs, and sheep.

Bake the cookies for 6-7 minutes. Carefully lift the cookies off the trays after about two minutes of cooling time, and transfer them to wire racks. Makes enough for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, plus some broken ones for you and your husband to eat with tea.

Do you have any can't-live-without-them Christmas cookie recipes?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm actually kinda jelous of you being able to work on one house and live in the other. I've lived through some (smaller) home renovations, and it can be tough when there's no where to get away TO.

Kristina Strain said...

YES! We are conscious of our luck, as well. Though two mortgage payments is no fun.

Julia said...

Your mom’s recipe for sugar cookies sounds really amazing. I love your snowflake cookie cutter by the way…it makes them look so festive. I love baking around the holidays; it is my favorite tradition. I have a six month old daughter, so I am constantly searching for recipes that are easy to make and delicious. I work with Better Recipes and I really feel that they offer a nice variety of holiday cookie recipes. If you want to try something new and exciting this holiday season, then I recommend you check out their Christmas Cookie Recipes

Becky said...

EEK, I keep forgetting the 2 mortgages. Is your house listed? any bites?

Your sugar cookie recipe is very similar to mine. Sometimes I cram the batter into a cookie press for a different look.

Kristina Strain said...

No, Becky, not yet. Our house in Bing isn't ready to sell yet (SOON!) so for the time being, this is life. Fortunately, we are living super duper cheaply, and it's doable for now.

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