Walking Down Sugar Cookie Lane

THE century old sugar cookie recipe. The one I am forbidden to share with you because it's a family secret. Ever since I can remember, my family has made this sugar cookie recipe for holidays and special occasions. Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentine's Day, weddings, or just because we had the hankering for something sweet on a rainy day.

These cookies evoke many fond memories of cooking in the kitchen with my mother and siblings, jamming to holiday music, or sitting at the table surrounded by my brothers and sisters with the smell of vanilla and Christmas in the air. Memories of decorating our tree or pumpkin shaped cookies with exorbitant amounts of frosting and way too many sprinkles for an adult's liking. (Because when you're a kid, more sprinkles = the prettiest cookie, right?)

These cookies are the only sugar cookies that I have ever loved. Other sugar cookies I've eaten have been hard or crunchy, too sugary, crumbly, or had disgustingly sweet frosting. Unlike those mediocre sugar cookies, these are absolute perfection! *chefs kiss* I promise, you'll never want to eat any other sugar cookie once you try these. (My past roommates unsuccessfully begged me for this recipe, so consider yourself lucky that I am sharing it with you.)

We make a homemade buttercream frosting that tastes heavenly with this not-so-sweet cookie. We typically mix in vanilla, but you can add any flavoring you like. For Christmas and Halloween, we also add a couple drops of food coloring to the frosting to achieve fun colors to decorate the cookies with.

Cookies in fun shapes, frosting, and sprinkles makes for a fantastic time when you're surrounded by loved ones. And you better expect to clean up a sticky mess afterwards (because when overzealous kids - or even a group of adults decorate cookies, it's unavoidable).

Once the dough has chilled sufficiently, I flour my work surface and my rolling pin, and I roll the dough out, not too thick and not too thin. By this point, the floor and my clothes are dusted with flour and everyone is waiting in anticipation. I invite my siblings to grab the cookie cutters and come over to cut out shapes and place them on the baking sheet. I love seeing the smiles on their faces as they help make these cookies because it reminds me of when I was a kid making them. Ah, nostalgia.

Although my family and I bake these for several different occasions, I typically associate these cookies with Christmas Eve. We ALWAYS make these the night before Christmas to leave out for Santa. *winks* We often have holiday music or a holiday movie playing while we bake and decorate them. We eat quite a few cookies before selecting the ones we want "Santa" to eat, then we clean up and sit by the light of the Christmas tree playing board or card games. My family often ends the night by reading a book by the fireplace and some of us sleep on the floor near the Christmas tree. It's positively wonderful.

The aroma of these sugar cookies baking is one of my favorite smells. It smells like home. It's the scent of warmth, of family, of childhood memories. I look forward to the day when I will make this recipe with my own children. And I hope that they will make these cookies with theirs. I believe that food has a special way of bringing people together and creating memories. It's particularly special when a recipe is passed down for generations.

DISCLOSURE: I have left out certain steps of the instructions that set these sugar cookies apart from the rest. I sincerely apologize, but I cannot, in good conscience, share the EXACT steps of the recipe with you. It would lose it's special quality and would not remain a family secret. I hope you can understand. (Not to mention, my mother might kill me)

SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE

(I come from a family of 12, so we regularly double the original recipe below)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

*Blend all of these ingredients together*

ADD 3 cups of flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

CHILL DOUGH FOR ABOUT 2 HOURS

BAKE AT 375 FOR ABOUT 7 MINUTES (or until the edges begin to look golden brown. My family prefers soft sugar cookies, so we stick to 7-8 minutes. Remember, they continue to cook after you remove them from the oven)

FROSTING

1 lb powdered sugar

1 stick of butter

1 tsp vanilla (make sure it's the REAL stuff)

Drizzle half and half until consistency is as desired

And there you have it! A delicious, melt in your mouth sugar cookie recipe that you can incorporate into your family traditions for years to come. Now go whip up a batch of these scrumptious morsels and make some great memories to last a lifetime.