Grandma’s Sugar Cookies

Several people have asked that I post the recipe for the cookies I made over the weekend. Here is the recipe but one note it is not just the recipe but how you make it that will make the difference. I am going to make a video demonstrating how I make the cookies and what to look for to get the cookies just the way I make them.

1 cup Butter, softened. I take the butter out of the frig the night before I am going to make the cookies so the butter is room temp. when I start.

1 and ½ cup sugar

2 large eggs, I have found if you use a different size egg it will change the finished cookies. I also remove the eggs from the frig. About 1 to 2 hours before I am going to make the cookies so that they too will get room temp.

1 – 2 teaspoons vanilla. I never actually measure this. I just pour the vanilla in until it seems right.

4ish cups of flour. I measure out 4 cups of flour but never add it all. There is always a little left. I add the flour until the dough forms a ball on the paddle and for the most part does not stick to the sides of the bowl.

1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder

1/2ish teaspoon of salt. I normally add a slightly rounded ½ teaspoon.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Using a stand mixer begin my creaming the butter. For me the creamier the better, this will take a few minutes and may require you scrape the sides of the bowl a couple times. Slowly add the sugar. Continue to beat the butter / sugar mixture to maintain a grainy creamy mixture. Add the eggs and continue beating. Add the vanilla continue beating. Once it is creamy you can stop the mixer while you mix the dry ingredients.

I add the 4 cups of flour, then the baking powder, and salt to a sifter and sift it all into a large bowl. Restart the mixer to a medium speed, with the wet ingredients in the bowl and slowly add the dry ingredients. For me this is always a mess with the flour going everywhere. Continue to add the flour until the dough begins to separate from the bowl and stay in a ball around the paddle. You should have a little flour left over.

I use parchment paper on cookie sheets. Take enough dough to make a ball about 1 inch in diameter. Roll it into a ball and set it on the cookie sheet. Once you have added enough you will need to press the cookies down. They will not settle or spread very much at all.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes. They don’t change color much at all.

There have been several variations of this recipe over the years. My Grandma Ingalls would take a glass and spread butter on the bottom of it, then dip the glass into sugar and press the cookie rounds down leaving a sugar topping on the cookies. I do not do that but I do add a butter cream frosting to the cookies. I will post that recipe in the coming days. I hope you enjoy the cookies as much as our family has!