Back-tracking pt. 1: Cookies

In my blog-laze over the past months, I missed covering Thanksgiving and Christmas. I should be able to produce some kind of massive photo montage of the gastronomic insanity that was Thanksgiving (one word: Turducken), but the only thing I really photo-documented during Christmas was my favorite part: Christmas Cookies. We have been making the same recipe for as long as I can remember, and why would we change it? It is amazing.

Whenever I start making these I always believe there will never be enough cookies and make a double batch. I roped my sister and the in-laws into decorating a huge quantity of these cookies. I was careful not to thank them for their help until they were finished, because I didn't want the help to stop. So I will say it here and now: Thanks, you guys. Great work. I hope you do it again next year.

This recipe is credited to Mrs. Elmer L. Anderson, wife of former MN Governor, and is found in a 1974 church cookbook from my mom's library.

Roll Out Sugar Cookies That Never Stick

3 cups flour
1 cup butter
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar (found in the spice aisle)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, soda, tartar in food processor. Cut butter into dry ingredients, pulse a few times. Add eggs and sugar and mix together for just a few seconds until a dough ball forms.

Place dough in a bowl and cover snugly with plastic wrap. Refridgerate dough for at least 20 minutes, up to overnight.

When ready, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough out 1/8" thick on a floured surface. Use your favorite seasonal (or not) cookie cutters. Be sure you have a few cookie sheets available so you can keep working while each pan is baking. Bake for 8-10 minutes per pan, but watch carefully and remove from oven when cookies start to brown. They burn really quickly, which makes everyone sad.


As for frosting, my technique is a little vague. The ingredients are powdered sugar, milk, butter, and cream cheese. I usually start with about 2-3 cups of powdered sugar, toss it in the food processor with a brick of cream cheese, half a stick of butter, and then thin it out with milk as necessary. You want it to be thin enough to spread a thin layer on the cookie, but thick enough that it doesn't fall right off. Plus you need to consider that it should be able to hold your decorations of choice. Then mix a couple of separate bowls with a few drops of food coloring of your choice. Does that help? Should we call it medium frosting?

Decorating is clearly my favorite part, my frosting friends can verify that I am a total slave driver in this department. But it is only because I love how creative people get when they are doing this stuff. Laura's MN Nice is my pick for best cookie this year. Congrats, Laura!