Sparkling New Year

Last week en route to the airport, I exclaimed to E about the lack of snow and how I wished it could be a white Christmas. Compared to last year, by now we were already blanketed with several snow storms. This year, it has only been a little more than dustings and flurries. I suppose Santa Claus decided to grant my wish because upon returning 2 days ago, we were unpleasantly greeted with heaps of billowing snow.


It continued to snow into the next day and while rummaging in the refrigerator to make breakfast, I found some sugar cookies that got left behind. Sugar cookies to me are quintessentially American. I was never fond of them until I took a bite from one my sister made. They have such a lovely and comforting vanilla aroma that they have become a part of my annual baking repertoire. Glittered with sanding sugar or painted with royal icing, they are simple tasting cookies that are a delicious compliment to a cold glass of milk. Still unable to work the fine motor controls of my thumb, I decided to just decorate them the way they taste, in a very simple manner.

Sis's Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups AP flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup butter - softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Method

1. Whisk dry ingredients together; flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and egg.
3. Add in dry ingredients and mix until combined.
4. Form dough into a flattened disk or square and chill until firm about 1 to 2 hours.
5. Roll out dough to an even thickness of 1/4 inch. Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes.
6. To sugar the cookies with sanding sugar, brush the surface with milk and sprinkle the sugar over the top before baking.
7. Bake cookies spaced 1 inch apart in a preheated oven of 375˚ for 7 to 9 minutes until the edges start to turn a light golden colour. Depending on the size of cut out shapes it may take less time or longer. Cookies can be baked directly on ungreased baking sheets or on parchment paper.
8. Cool cookies completely before decorating with royal icing.