One of my favorite holiday memories from childhood is making rolled cut-out cookies with my mom, sisters, and grandparents. I loved getting to dig into the chilled dough with my little fingers, get my turn trying out the rolling pin, picking all my favorite shapes from the big bin of cookie cutters, and of course frosting and taste testing after the cookies were baked.

Now that I’m a mom myself I want to pass along these experiences and create these memories with my two wee lairds. Luckily for me – Bear and Lion are 100% on board with this cherished holiday tradition. This year we made peppermint cookies with a variety of icing choices. But, since that recipe is already on the blog I thought I might share my favorite sugar cookie recipe with this post.

Personally I’m not a huge fan of the cake like texture and mild vanilla flavor of traditional sugar cookies. I prefer a thinner cookie that has a nice snap and a lovely rich almond flavor. Which is why Mary’s Sugar Cookie Recipe is one of my absolute favorites! I recommend rolling the cookies out pretty thin in order to get that delightful crisp texture! While in past years I have decorated cookies with more precision, clean boarders, and shiny flood frosting – when it comes to little ones I like giving them free reign. Here’s frosting, sprinkles, colored sugar – go ahead and go crazy! This of course means a nice Jackson Pollock-ish finished product on the cookies at my house.

Mary’s Sugar Cookies

• 1 C butter softened
• 1.5 C sifted confectioners sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2-1 tsp almond extract
• 2.5 C all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 C granulated sugar for decoration (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the creamed mixture. Cover and chill for at least two hours. (I like to make this and other roll out dough’s – such as the peppermint cookie dough- days in advance. Then when the boys and I are ready to make cookies we can get right to the fun part!)
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the dough into two parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of the dough out to roughly 3/16 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle cookies with plain or colored granulated sugar if desired.
3. Bake for 6-8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned around the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Decorate with an almond flavored confectioners sugar frosting. Allow frosting to dry and then pack up cookies until needed – or enjoy right away with friends and family!

We hope you give this great sugar cookie recipe a try for your next holiday party, school bake off, office gathering, or birthday celebration! From all of us here at the Wee Lairds Kitchen – happy baking!