My first recipe from the CIA Baking and Pastry... Sugar Cookies

Wow...finally getting a chance to write up my review on the sugar cookie recipe in the book:)  This is my favorite recipe for sugar cookies.  They taste great (ie- not too sweet and a little chewy) and they are super easy to make.  I have no idea if I'm even allowed to include the recipe in here and I have to tell you, I do weigh my stuff so I may not always have the measurements in cups/tsps/etc.  AND, these recipes call for a lot more than my little mixer and kitchen can handle...so I am constantly halving or quartering the recipes.

My advice to you, if you really want to make these recipes, is to get a scale!!  Saves on dishes (every little bit helps)..

Creaming the butter and sugar- you need to make sure you cream it together until the dough becomes creamy and a pale yellow.  I do this every time I cream sugar and butter for EVERY recipe... Best thing I've learned since reading this book!!

You technically need to sift together the flour, baking soda, salt (the 'dry') ingredients.  BUT, I don't own a sifter so I started whisking my 'dry' ingredients and it seems to work well enough for now.  If I ever do get a sifter, I will let you know if there is a huge difference.. You could also put the dry ingredients in a fine mesh drainer and tap it through...done that before and it works well.

Another piece of advice... crack your eggs into a separate container.. this enables you to find any shells that might accidentally come with the egg and make sure the eggs are good.  Add the vanilla to the eggs (and in this case, the milk too).

Now, add the dry and the wet to the butter mixture alternately.  I always start with the flour stuff and end with it too.  This is what the dough should look like:

At this point, I divide into 2 and saran wrap each section tightly... put into the fridge and let it chill for a couple hours.

Flour is your friend when rolling it out... don't be afraid to use it as it will make life that much easier.  Flour the counter, your hands, the rolling pin, the dough... Go For It!!  Use cookie cutters to make your favorite shapes.  Or, if you don't want to go through this trouble, when you saran wrap it, make it into a log shape and you can just slice the cookies and sprinkle sugar on them before baking.

My rating of this recipe is excellent.  It is an easy one to make and they taste great!!  I highly recommend.

Here are some pics of finished products:

Use your imagination!!  Have fun:)  If you don't want to use Royal Icing, grab a container of white frosting and go for it (easier for the kiddies if you do it with them)

I will do the Royal Icing (recipes and how to's) in a separate entry:)  There is just too much information about Royal Icing to include in here!!

Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe  (halved from the CIA Baking and Pastry Book)
1 pound of All-purpose flour
1/4 ounce (1 tsp) of Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) of unsalted butter  (I've used salted butter if I don't have any unsalted and it works well)
1/2 pound sugar (approx. 1 cup)
4 oz eggs (approx. 2 extra large eggs)
2 oz milk
1/4 oz vanilla
Course sugar if you are going to make a log and slice (sprinkle this on cookies before baking)