Most of the cookie how-tos were actually tried-and-true vintage recipes that had been passed down from generation to generation. Here are 8 of the best!
Cookies, cookies, cookies!
There are as many different ways to make sugar cookies as there are cooks, but the results are popular with all ages.
Here are some home-tested, family-pleasing sugar cookie recipes from local cooks.
1. Grandmother’s sugar cookies
Thie recipe comes from Mrs Richard Borders, who recalls that they got their name because when she was a child, they made them whenever her dear little grandmother came for a visit from the Bluegrass section of Kentucky.
“My own children cheer when it rains, because we can make ‘Grandmother’s Sugar Cookies,'” Mrs Borders reports.
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
Add 2 eggs
1/2 to 1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond flavoring
2 tsp. milk or cream
1 to 2 tsp. orange or lemon peel, grated
2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups flour
Directions
Mix well and refrigerate dough for an hour or so. Using the smallest amount of flour necessary to handle, roll out and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees about 12 minutes.
2. Swedish sugar cookies
Another sugar cookie special comes from Mrs E M Seppa, who says the recipe comes from her mother, who was born in Sweden. “Sugar cookies just don’t come any better,” according to Mrs Seppa.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring
2 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
Directions
Cream butter, add sugar, beat well. Add egg yolks one at a time, continuing to beat until light and fluffy. Add milk and flavoring. Sift ingredients together and add gradually to above mixture. Add beaten egg whites. Chill overnight in the refrigerator.
Lightly dust board or pastry cloth with flour. Roll out a portion of the dough and cut shapes with cookie cutter. Do not add remaining scraps to next piece of dough that is rolled, but save until the end and roll all scraps together.
Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar or crushed sugar cubes. Sprinkle with chopped almonds if desired. Bake at 375 degrees until lightly browned.
3. Grandma’s drop sugar cookies
“You really don’t have to roll and cut dough to make good sugar cookies,” according to Mrs R H Grant, who contributed two favorite sugar cookie recipes that came from her husband’s grandmother. “I was married for 50 years, and I never rolled a cookie!” says Mrs Grant, and her recipes will help others make the same claim.
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2-1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
Directions
Cream butter, sugar and egg until fluffy. Add sifted dry ingredients, vinegar and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonful on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar or put 1/2 walnut on top of each.
Bake at 400 degrees tor about 12 minutes.
4. Grandma’s sliced sugar cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. cream
2-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted before measuring
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
Directions
Cream butter, add sugar and beat until light. Add beaten egg, cream and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together, and add.
Form into rolls and chill well. Slice and place slices on cookie sheet, sprinkling each with sugar or 1/2 walnut if desired.
Bake in 400 degree oven 8 to 10 minutes.
>> You might also like this recipe: Colored pastel sugar cookies (1962)
5. Mrs Thacker’s sugar cookies
Ingredients
2/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups sifted enriched flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons milk
Directions
Thoroughly cream sugar, shortening, orange peel and vanilla. Add egg, beat until light and fluffy. Stir in milk. Sift together dry ingredients; blend into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Chill 1 hour.
On a lightly-floured surface, roll to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake on a greased cookie sheet about 6 to 8 minutes. Cool slightly; remove from pan. Cool on rack. Decorate if desired, or sprinkle granulated sugar on top.
Makes 2 dozen
6. Powdered sugar cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup shortening
1-3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
Cream together butter and shortening; gradually add powdered sugar and cream well. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract. Beat until fluffy. Sift together and add flour, soda and cream of tartar; mix well. Stir in chopped walnuts. Drop small spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 400 degrees about 10 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar when cooked.
Makes about 6 dozen cookies
7. Sugar butter cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Cream butter, add sugar gradually, and cream until fluffy. Add unbeaten egg and vanilla, beating well. Sift together dry ingredients and blend into creamed mixture. Roll out and cut into desired shapes. Place on unbuttered cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes.
8. Old-fashioned sugar cookies recipe
Mrs Ottie C. Redway sent in her recipe for old-fashioned sugar cookies, which she says is a very old recipe with an updated mixing method.
Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 cubes butter or margarine
3 eggs
Directions
Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add butter and cut in with pastry blender. Chill dough. Roll thin and cut with cookie cutter. Shake granulated sugar on top. Bake in 425 degree oven until light brown.
Makes 12 dozen 2-inch cookies
