One of our neighbors gave this cookbook to me when I was 14. At the time it was exactly the kind of gift you’d give to a young girl who was bound to get married in the not-so-distant future and settle down and needed to know how to cook everything from Lobster Thermidor (page 269) to After-Dinner Coffee (page 66). I never got around to those but I did try most of the cookie recipes. That’s how I got to know about Mary.
Mom and I never made sugar cookies. It wasn’t until I had those kids my neighbor anticipated that I even thought about sugar cookies and holiday time spent frosting trees and Santas with my kids. Then I turned to Betty Crocker and her staff member Mary. Mary was a genius.
I have never had trouble with this recipe. Mary must have worked out all the kinks. Roll it out, let the kids cut out shapes and mix up any color of frosting they want. Get out all of the sprinkles and colored sugars. The cookies are fragile and break fairly easily so if kids are helping it’s best to stick to simple, large shapes. They’ll have a blast, like my 3-year-old granddaughter did a couple of weeks ago when she helped make Biscoff copycat cookies. She even was pretty good at rolling them out, thanks to all her practice with PlayDoh.
– Joan, 4 December 2018
Mary's Sugar Cookies
- 1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted if necessary
- 1 cup butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and extracts. Blend flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar and mix in. Refrigerate dough for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Divide dough into 2-3 pieces. Roll out to a thickness of 1/8″-3/16″ and cut into shapes. Bake 7-8 minutes, till just beginning to brown on edges. Cool completely and frost or decorate as desired. I mix sifted powdered sugar with a little milk and flavoring till it’s a slightly loose spreading consistency. Sprinkle with decorative sugar before the icing begins to set. Be sure the icing is completely dry before storing or freezing.
