Christmas Sugar Cookies

  

Baking is much a Christmas tradition as stockings and carols.And  Sugar cookies are a rage in the Christmas season.Nothing beats an iced Sugar cookie made from scratch.... A sinfully sweet Christmas treat .

Our house is filled with the Christmas spirit and the mother and daughter trio brought more cheer by baking these classic old fashioned sugar cookies and decorating them.These pretty cookies are a classic addition to the holiday cookie tray.

By the time we completed decorating them it was past midnight and the kitchen counter was full of sugar,butter,icing,sprinkles ,colours but then we had a whale of a time cutting them out in festive shapes and icing them...the right way to get into the holiday spirit and bonding with each other.

Today evening our house guests arrive for the holidays and my daughters are over the moon planning their days with the elder cousin .Makes me remember my childhood days with our cousins and the gala time we had in the holidays.

This cookie recipe doesn't ask for chilling the cookie dough, but if you still want to chill it you can go ahead.As for decoration a little corn syrup can be added to the sugar mix to give a sheen to the icing but it's optional.

This recipe is adapted from a friend's blog Naive cook cooks.
These pretty sugar cookies go as an entry for Helen of CasaCostello for her baking event Bake of the week.

You require( makes nearly 2 dozen cookies)
1 1/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 C soft Unsalted butter
3/4 C powdered Sugar
1/2 an egg,whisked
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk

For the Icing
1C icing Sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Food colouring

Method

• Whisk the flour, baking soda and baking powder together,keep aside.
• In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar till fluffy with a hand mixer.
• Add the vanilla and egg,beat .
• Add the dry ingredients gradually and mix.
• Add the milk and form into a soft dough,it should be soft and not wet.
• Knead the dough on a floured surface and if it's wet adjust it with a little flour added to it and if it's dry add a little milk.
• Form into a ball and cover with a cling film and chill it for an hour if chilling the dough, otherwise roll it out straightaway.
• After removing from the fridge wait for a few minutes for the dough to soften so that it's easy to roll it out.
• Roll the dough on a floured surface and with holiday theme cookie cutters cut them out and lay them on a cookie tray with parchment paper.
• Bake them in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 8-10 mins.If you want them crisp you can bake it a little longer .I like them chewy in the middle and crisp at the sides .
• For the icing ,mix the icing Sugar with the milk and vanilla and make sure the mixture is not flowy,adjust the milk and icing sugar as needed.
• Divide the mix according to the colours you want and transfer them to piping bags,can use zip locks as piping bags.
• While cutting holes in the piping bags make sure the hole isn't too big or it will be difficult to make outlines.
• Decorate the cookies with piping the outlines first and then filling them and spread with a butter knife.
• Decorate with sprinkles and let them set overnight before storing.

Enjoy the soft,chewy,delicious cookies and a merry Christmas !