Rolled Sugar Cookies

Everyone can recognize a sugar cookie -- paler than a snickerdoodle and usually sparkling with some colored sugar or decorated with frosting. Most of us have been eating the storebought kind since we were kids; I was having a craving but given my aversion to shortening and lord knows what else they put in those things I decided to give rolled sugar cookies a try for myself.

I was out of waxed paper, so I just used plastic wrap and I don't think it made too much of a difference. The waxed paper is surely easier to handle though, so I recommend that. Not paying attention to the proportions, this recipe made a LOT of cookies. I wound up having to take the majority of them to my classes to share; the plus side is that I got a lot of feedback, and all of it was great. People really like these cute little cookies.

You can decorate these any way you want, I just used colored sugar. For something like sugar or sprinkles you brush a bit of water over the cookie and sprinkle it before you put them in the oven. For frosting, wait until they've cooked and cooled to decorate.

Ingredients:

3 sticks salted butter (1.5c)
2c vanilla sugar
5c bread flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
colored sugar for decorating

Whip the butter and sugar together, once it's creamy add the vanilla and eggs. This recipe is so large that you'll want to add the dry ingredients gradually, otherwise it will be impossible to mix (and a total mess if you're using a countertop mixer!) Once the dough is blended, spoon it onto a piece of waxed paper and roll to about "3-"4 in diameter. Freeze for around an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and cut the cookies into 1/2 inch rounds with a sharp knife. Bake for 6-10 minutes. My oven is notoriously slow, but for these the time on the original recipe was correct so don't overbake! If the bottoms of the cookies are getting brown, they're done. The bottoms will remain pale after they're fully cooked...just trust me on this one :)