Playing in the Kitchen: Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

This recipe, from my grandma, makes wonderfully soft sugar cookies. Not just “not crunchy” or “chewy” but seriously SOFT. And delicious.

What sets this recipe apart from your standard sugar cookie is the soured cream. No, not Sour Cream (save that for your enchiladas). These cookies call for Heavy Cream that has soured. Don’t worry, you do not have to wait until your cream is past it’s expiration date to make the cookies.

Photo taken March 2011, and “aged” w/ Photobucket.
Maybe I have too much time on my hands.

To “sour” your cream, measure out 1 cup of cream into a small bowl, and add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. Let it sit for a while (5-10 minutes minimum). It may get a little lumpy, you have been warmed. Add it ALL to the batter when the recipe calls for it.

Oh, and here is the recipe, from Mom’s side of the family:

Grandma Simmons’ Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Mix

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla

Sift

• 3 cups of All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients.
Add 1 cup Soured Cream, blend thoroughly.

Scoop onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar, Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. *You’ll know they are done when the edges just start to get golden brown.

This recipe gives you more of a thick batter than a traditional cookie dough. These aren’t the cookies that can be rolled out and cut into shapes. I used a mini-ice cream disher scoops to make the process of scooping the dough a MILLION times easier (and it gives you consistent sized cookies, too. It’s starting to get hot in Tx, so anything that can speed the process just a bit and get me out of the kitchen is much appreciated.

Also, I’ve been told by my cookie-testers that they taste better when you use sugar-sprinkles and not the Jimmy-sprinkles. I personally think the Jimmies are just fine.

One last tip: OVER-SPRINKLE. Put on more than you’d think is necessary. I tap down the scoop of cookie dough a bit so it looks more disk-like, and cover in sprinkles. These cookies spread as they cook, so if you only lightly sprinkle, they’ll turn out looking a bit silly.

These cookies would work out great for a Bake Sale or kids Birthday Party. The recipe makes 30+ cookies, so sharing with friends, fraternity brothers, or co-workers is probably a good idea too.

If you have any tried-and-true Sugar Cookie recipes, please share in the comments below! I’m always looking for something new to try!