Sugar Cookies

The cookies turned out okay - a bit thick though. I should've rolled the dough thinner.

Whoever said making cookies is fun is lying. This is the hardest recipe I ever tried!!!

In my kitchen misadventures from the past months, I have established several things:
Number 1 - I don't have the patience to wait for dough to rise or for anything to rise or for anything to set in the fridge.
Number 2 - I'm not really good at kneading dough.
Number 3 - I hate recipes that are not adaptable to hot, humid weather.

Try if you dare - the cookies taste good but kneading, chilling in the fridge, rolling, then cutting are steps best described in 2 words: hard labor!

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thick. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Cut out cookies with a 4-inch one-piece-shaped cookie cutter. To make an ornament, cut out a hole from the center of the neck about 1/4-inch from the edge using a straw. Transfer cookie dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from freezer and transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
4. Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Roll the dough in a clean work surface or use a nonstick pastry mat - like this one from Tescoma

Chill the dough in the fridge. Make sure you put the dough in an airtight container.

My cookie cutters are from Wilton and Tescoma. Too bad I wasn't able to decorate them :-(

I didn't have enough energy left to make royal icing to decorate the cookies but here's the recipe -> Martha Stewart's Royal Icing recipe

Pawis rating: 5 of 5 HARD LABOR!