This recipe is from The Joy of Cooking that I have used for over 30 yrs! It is really fool-proof. The cookies get harder as they age…they get stale also, like anything else, but they will not go soft! You can ice them, if you want. If you put the icing on them when they are warm from the oven, the icing will glaze over nicely. You can cut very small shapes with this dough and get away with it! Have fun.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup white or brown sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
- Cream the sugar and butter until light & fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs and the vanilla.
- Combine the flour and baking powder and add to the sugar/butter/egg mixture. You might have to use a wooden spoon.
- When the dough is totally incorporated, form into three or four balls and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours
Remove the cookies from the refrigerator; pre-heat to oven to 375 degrees. Prepare pans.
- Sprinkle flour onto the rolling surface and roll the dough in small batches to 1/8” thickness.
- Cut into shapes. Save the unused dough and add it to the next batch.
- Bake for about 8-9 minutes.
- While cookies bake, cut out next batch.
- When you take the cookies out of the oven, remove from cookie sheet immediately (or they will stick!) and transfer to cooling rack or they will stick to the pan.
Yield: 3-4 dozen, depending on cutter size.
My Mom Likes to Cook 