Recipe # 1 - 20 days left until Christmas, so let's have some Sugar Cookies!

The first index card I pulled today from Grandma's recipes is Sugar Cookies. A Christmas staple, sugar cookies are easy to make and fun for the kids to cut out and decorate. Light and fluffy, these cookies are so yummy that she said they couldn't possibly be fattening (Grandma was a little hippy, so take that with a grain of salt)

• Grandma Rosella's Sugar Cookies
• 
  
• 1/2 cups butter (take it out of your fridge about 2 hours before you bake so it's nice and soft)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (She always used the real vanilla.)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch Cream of Tartar 

Directions

1. In your mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid) cream your butter and sugar together until it's fluffy. 
2. Beat in eggs one and a time and add the vanilla. 
3. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. I like to add my dry ingredients all at once and let the mixer take care of it.
4. Scoop your dough onto plastic wrap, then cover it completely. Be sure to chill dough for at least 2 hours.
5. Turn your oven on to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes.  *Quick Tip* Use parchment paper and roll out the dough directly on the paper.  You can remove the excess dough from the cookies as opposed to moving the cookies from the cupboard to the pan. Lessens the likelihood of having snowmen with broken arms. 
6. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

These cookies are good on their own.  My mom always liked to eat them plain, but I decorate them with my kids. 

Tomorrow's recipe: Grandma's Icing!