I have been baking cookies tonight. Lots and lots of cookies. Since I can never totally decide between my two favorite recipes, I always make two different batches. See, I have important memories tied up in both types of cookies.
#1 The Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookie. This is a wonderful cross between a shortbread cookie and a sugar cookie. A little soft and tender in the middle, but delightfully crisp on the edges, with a buttery taste. Heaven. This takes me back to my childhood, at Christmas time usually. My mom wasn't the kind that made cookies all the time, and when she did, it was usually for some function like the Relief Society Bazaar (remember those?) or the Elementary School bake sale. Therefore, since my mom is surprisingly competitive, she always made sure her baked goods were the best. So when I bake and eat these, I am reminded of these little crispy treasures that I used to have to sneak, since I would get yelled at if I actually got caught eating the reserved cookies.
#2 Soft Sugar Cookies. Fast forward about 8 years or so. In Utah Valley, these gigantic sugar cookies started popping up in Harts gas stations, where I would get my Big Chill of Diet Coke. The cookies were about 5 inches, round, and nearly 1 inch thick. They were also coated with a ton of frosting and a few sprinkles. The company that made them was Granny B's I think. The first bite of cookie wasn't all that great, but the more you ate, the more the taste and texture grew on you. The frosting was little more than shortening and sugar, and tasted like it, but somehow I still loved it. It also paired perfectly with Diet Coke. I had a few issues with dieting and weight control in high school, so sometimes eating the cookie meant I would skip lunch or dinner altogether, maybe both. Good times. Fast forward about another 8 years or so, and I'm dating Matt. His mother makes amazing cookies, soft and yummy, and the taste was so much better than the ones I remembered from Harts. Anyway, now I love to make this recipe and they are usually a big hit with old and young tasters.
So, for your baking enjoyment and pleasure, and so you can travel down memory lane with me, here are both recipes, both family treasures. Or, if you live in my ward, just make sure you go to choir tomorrow, and you can sample both of them. I also want to make a slightly humorous note that I have dug through my cupboards and found all sorts of sprinkles. Christmas, Halloween, Autumn, Halloween. But anything that is red and pink and might resemble Valentine's? Nope. I have them, somewhere, but of course they're nowhere to be found. Oh, don't worry, they'll turn up around February 24th. And the cute cookies in the picture, those are courtesy of google images.
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies.
These are the original, old-fashioned, slightly buttery and crispy rolled cookies. Even though it seems everyone likes a soft cookie nowadays, I always find myself going back to these. I remember Mom always made these at Christmas to be decorated, but sometimes in a time crunch she’s sprinkle plain old granulated sugar colored with a drop or two of food coloring, and we’d gobble them up just as fast!
2 eggs
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter, soft
1 ½ cups sugar
3 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons vanilla
Beat eggs slightly in large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients; blend on low speed 1 minute. Mix on medium speed until mix is well blended and gather together about 3 min. Form into 2 balls. (If dough does not hold, add 1 or 2 T cream). Roll out on floured board, cut; sprinkle with sugar.
Soft Sugar Cookies
This recipe was in my family cookbook that I got last summer at our reunion. I can't believe how well they turned out. They're very soft, and they don't brown much, so be careful that you don't overcook them.
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
whip the heck out of it for 2-3 minutes
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp soda
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups flour
Mix and roll out somewhat "thickly." Bake at 350 for 10 minutes (every oven is different though, just watch carefully not to brown them or they will be a little dry tasting).
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