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Plain Vanilla Mom

Easter Sugar Cookies

in baking, Easter, family, holidays, kiddos, recipes on 01/04/12

This weekend’s big project was our Easter sugar cookies. Now, not to toot my own horn, but the family has lovingly dubbed me the sugar cookie queen lol. Hey, if I get to be the queen of something…even if it’s sugar cookies… I’ll take it!  There are folks who get very upset if I skip making these cookies, especially at Christmas.  They are so good in fact that making them just once a year at Christmas is never quite enough so we often make them at Halloween and then either Valentine’s Day or Easter.  They are quite the project and can be a bit time consuming to decorate so they end up being a two-day event. Cut out and bake them one day, and then frost them the next.

The cookie recipe is a recipe that I got from my best friend back in high school and I’ve been using the same one ever since.

Sugar Cookies
1 1/2c butter (softened to room temperature)
2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 c flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/3c water
Her directions to me back then were…throw it all in the bowl and mix it. Bake at 350 for 8-10min til they start to turn light golden brown. If you can pick them up, they are done.  I’ve developed a more detailed process with the ingredients over the years so I’ll share my modifications…

Cream the butter and sugar. Then add eggs and vanilla and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix again. At this point I will slowly add in the water until the dough is the consistency I need it to be. You may need to use the full 1/3c or possibly less.  I usually refrigerate the dough and come back to it later to roll and cut out cookies. This dough is a pretty good consistency right off and I have rolled and cut it immediately without chilling it when I am pressed for time. Roll them out and cut them out! I like to roll them THICK, but choose your desired thickness. Bake at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet for 8-10min. Like I said, I like them very thick and as a result I usually end up bumping the bake time up to even 12min. They are done when the bottoms are just starting to turn a light golden brown. 


Fluffy White Frosting
I make a very simple mix of confectionary sugar, shortening and milk (sometimes I add vanilla) until the consistency is what I am looking for and I just keep tasting it until it tastes good :)….That’s how I make it.! haha…helpful right? For your benefit I will roughly guestimate what I use…
2lb confectionary sugar
1-1 1/2c shortening
3+ Tbsp milk
1- 11/2 tsp vanilla
Sorry, I’ve always made this frosting just to taste & texture and never measure anything but that’s my best guess. I do this one strictly with shortening because I like it pure white. It’s great for coloring!
We fill frosting bags and use whatever other garnish I happen to have in the house for decorating. Sprinkles, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows etc. This time it was Easter colored M&Ms.
The kids have a blast decorating….

All the cookies you see here the kids decorated themselves. It’s a fun for all ages activity! We all have fun eating them too! And…there’s more than a couple of guys in the house whose favorite tradition it is to try and “steal” dough while I’m cutting out cookies. Big shenanigans go on here to try and distract me while one person swoops in and steals cookie dough 🙂 In fact, I’m pretty sure stealing dough is mostly the reason that ‘A’ asks me to make these!

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7 Comments

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Comments

  1. Amanda says

    April 1, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    These look FANTASTIC! Thanks for the tutorial…I loved decorating sugar cookies when I was a kid. Can’t wait to do it with my own kids.

    Reply
    • PlainVanillaMom says

      April 2, 2012 at 12:47 am

      Thanks Amanda! Sugar cookies was my favorite tradition as a kid. We have managed to keep them going. My Mom refuses to make them anymore lol, she said that torch has been handed off lol.

      Reply
  2. Vicky says

    April 1, 2012 at 10:02 pm

    These came out so pretty and I bet they were very tasty.

    Reply
    • PlainVanillaMom says

      April 2, 2012 at 12:48 am

      Thanks Vicky 🙂 Yes, they are delish. I just saw yours too. I love the painting with icing idea!

      Reply
  3. Gina says

    April 5, 2012 at 4:13 am

    These look so tasty! I’m always looking for new recipes to try. I’m glad we didn’t make ours yet…copying this recipes down now!

    Reply
    • PlainVanillaMom says

      April 5, 2012 at 1:10 pm

      I hope you like them! I can never go wrong with this recipe 🙂

      Reply
  4. Roopa says

    April 6, 2012 at 4:46 pm

    These look lovely and I am sure they tasted great too. I have let my daughter paint glazed cookies with food colors, will have to get her try icing next time.

    Thank you for linking to Kids Co-op and hope to see you again next week!

    Reply

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Hi There!

Welcome! I'm Jen, just your average well caffeinated, camera wielding, multitasking, plain vanilla mom to three boys. I love photography & am addicted to Instagram (oh & Starbucks). So, grab a cup of coffee and take a minute to peruse the pages here. I look forward to getting to know you better! Read More…

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