Recipes are easily accessed by searching my blog. If there is a recipe you would like and cannot locate it, let me know. I tweak every recipe, every time I make it, so fair warning. Here are my basics that I use on a regular basis. Also check out my recipe index and specific sugar cookie designs on the cookie tab.
Buttermilk Sugar Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 Tablespoons buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Cream butter and sugar. Add buttermilk, vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl sift dry ingredients and add to mixer until well combined. Place dough on plastic wrap and shape into a flat disc. Refrigerate at least an hour or freeze in a zippered plastic bag.
Preheat oven to 400° If dough is frozen, thaw completely in fridge. Remove disc from fridge and divide in 4 pieces. Use one piece at a time and keep remaining dough in fridge. Generously flour work space with flour and roll cookies to 1/8" thickness. Bake cookies on Silpat with a couple of inches between cookies. Bake for about 3 minutes and switch from front to back, top shelf to lower shelf and bake about 3 minutes more. Watch closely. Once you find the perfect time, all sheets should bake the same because all the cookies are the same thickness if you use dough bands.
Cool on Silpat on racks, and then move directly to rack. Cookies can be frozen when cool, or get ready to decorate.
Wilton Icing with Crisco
see what it looks like here, it is fluffy
1 cup white crisco
1 pound, about 4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon Wilton clear vanilla extract
milk, anywhere from 1-5 Tablespoons
1 Tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder
2 Tablespoons warm water
In a stand mixer bowl, place meringue powder in warm water to dissolve a little. Add the Crisco and whip for a good 3 minutes, add vanilla and add powdered sugar a cup at a time. Add milk as needed to make icing the right consistency. If you are piping it, you want it a little firmer. If you are simply using a spatula, the icing can be softer. I always have extra powdered sugar on hand to thicken it if needed. Decorate the cookies as desired, and let the frosting firm up before packing into airtight containers.
Royal Icing
6 T meringue powder
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
4 # confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons clear vanilla
1+ cups warm water
Whisk meringue powder and cram of tartar with enough warm water to dissolve. In a heavy duty mixer, slowly add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Keep adding water until the consistency is right. There is a learning curve here, and I can't be exact because the amount of water changes with the weather. The icing needs to be smooth. But firmer for piping borders and thinner for flooding.
Lemon Icebox Crumbles
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups flour, sifted
grated zest from 2 lemons
¾ cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
Lemon juice or cold water, if needed
Combine butter, flour and lemon zest with a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Add sugar and egg yolks. With floured fingers, work the mixture into a smooth dough. Add juice or water for dough to adhere better if needed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350° and on Silpat lined cookie sheets, roll 1 inch balls and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake about 12-15 minutes until pale and gold. Cool completely. You can see them here.
Lemon Buttermilk Cookies
3 cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 T grated lemon zest
3 T buttermilk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix first four dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and zest until well mixed. Add flour, mix and add buttermilk and lemon juice. When dough is mixed, wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least an hour. Roll out on a well floured surface and bake in a preheated 350° oven for about 12-15 minutes. I bake on convection so I bake at 340° for 7-9 minutes. Cool completely and ice as desired. See them here.
