The Best Sugar Cookies

For many years I would spend days each holiday season making decorated sugar cookies. I started the tradition in my twenties with a girlfriend and we made hundreds of cookies that we rolled, cut out, decorated and gave to friends. I continued on with that tradition for many years when my kids where small and it became a fun family holiday experience for all of us as they got old enough to help and they enjoyed sharing them with our neighbors and friends.

But one day, there were no little girls there wanting to help mommy make snowman or Santa sugar cookies and I was ready for something simpler. I’ll keep that big box of cookie cutters for the time when my children marry and have their own children I can make them with, but for me…these are the next best thing.

I’ve been using this recipe for several years and know it’s been around for some time but no matter because I think they are perfect for me today. They may be simpler to make than cutout cookies, but have a great taste and texture; so good, so light and so crisp. They are perfectly wonderful with just a dusting of sugar (and for the holidays of course we’ll have a bunch of holiday colored sugars and I found some wonderful cookie decorations at King Arthur Flour’s website too; can you say sparkle?) but for something more special, I still love to add a layer of frosting before those sprinkles!

This year, I volunteered to host the South Metro Cooking Club Meetup at my home and we spent an afternoon with an assembly line of cookie making. Knowing we would have up to 15 people here making and decorating cookies, I thought this recipe ideal. It was quite the production. Two people making batches of dough, two making frosting, two managing the baking and the rest of us either decorating or maybe just drinking wine and chatting up guests (yes, me…so?).

I had been sent two bottles of wine from Charity Case Wines to sample and thought this would be the perfect afternoon. Top Napa wineries donate the “pink” wine removed while making reds to Charity Case, which turns it into a lovely rosé. All proceeds from these wines go to children’s causes. The rosé is fabulous; it’s a gorgeous blush color and we found it light and dry and filled with fruit on the nose. Not sweet but certainly a fruity wine, I thought it paired well with a wide assortment of appetizers brought by the members of our group.

The second bottle was a Sauvignon Blanc; one of the few white wines I actually enjoy! I love the citrus notes found in SB and this wine did not disappoint as it had a very distinct lemon and apricot nose. Fermented in oak barrels, it has a long, creamy finish. I actually served this after the party to some neighbors that came over with some sauteed shrimp and cheese and we only wished we had another bottle!

Follow this group on Twitter and see if you can locate their wines in your local wine shop; they are priced right, taste wonderful and all of it is done to support children. How can you go wrong?

We had a blast so I hope this will become a regular tradition each year and I hope you try some of these cookies too!

I’m so appreciative of Mary, one of our cooking club members, for taking these photos!

Tagged as: butter, Christmas, cookies, decorated, frosting, holiday, King Arthur, Sprinkles, sugar, sugar cookies