Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

Yay! I'm so proud of myself :) I love to bake, but try as I might, I have never been able to make soft cookies (with the exception of the cake mix cookies). I love making sugar cookies, especially around this time of year, but avoid it because they always turn out crispy. Well, this year I found a recipe that swore it was the best recipe, guaranteed to be soft. I was very skeptical at first.... half of the reviews said it was an awful recipe (mostly because the dough was too sticky and hard to handle) and the other half gave it an enthusiastic 5 stars. I tried it, added it something, omitted part of something and they turned out GREAT! It's been 3 days, and they are softer now than when I baked them :) I ended up putting butter cream frosting on them - which I would definitely suggest. They are not very sweet cookies (but that also is what makes them good), so a layer of frosting makes them just right! I took a tray of these to Audrey's preschool Christmas "program" (I say "program" because it was pretty much just 6 kids singing about 10 different little songs, and then it was time to stuff them all full of crack .. a.k.a.. sugar). The kids and adults loved them. One of my friends was there and she ate three while we were standing there talking and made herself leave so she wouldn't eat anymore :)

So, for any of you out there who have been searching for a soft sugar cookie recipe, here it is! For all you other skilled bakers who are reading this saying "sheeesh, who CAN'T make soft cookies? I mean really, it's easy..." well, pooh on you and you can just ignore this :)

Soft, Yummy Sugar Cookies!

1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup shortening (substituting butter might work, but then again, it might not)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar (I know.... just trust me)
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour (I packed mine)
1 tsp nutmeg (I cut this down to about 1/2 tsp - next time I will probably just omit it completely)

*I also added about 2 tsp butter flavoring and about 3 Tbsp corn syrup

1. Combine milk with vinegar to make sour milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine white sugar, shortening, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg (if you are adding it). Last, stir in brown sugar (this is also where I added my corn syrup and butter flavoring. I hand-stirred this rather than using my mixer.)
3. Stir in sour milk and mix well. NOTE: Dough will be very sticky and hard to handle. You could refrigerate it for a few hours, or just use plenty of flour when rolling out. (All the reviews suggested refrigerating does not help.)
4. Flour your surface very well and keep extra flour at hand. Drop dough onto floured surface and begin to knead. I ended up kneading 3/4 to 1 cup more of flour into the dough before it was to the correct texture and not sticking to me. Keep the surface floured to avoid it sticking to the counter.
5. Roll on well floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters to desired shapes. (lg cutters work best).
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown on bottom. (I used a silver baking tray covered with tin foil and ended up baking the cookies for approx. 12 minutes - we also sit at almost 5000 feet. I cooked them until they were just BARELY browning on the bottom).
6. Frost with frosting (Butter cream is soooo yummy on them) and decorate. Or you could brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.


(I also made some peanut-butter chocolate bars...)