Carla Howell's Sugar Cookies
A recipe with both baking powder and baking soda, surprisingly,
since usually leaven makes stamped designs melt away in the oven.
Ingredients
1 or more Rycraft cookie stamps
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup lard or shortening
2 eggs beaten
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour milk (1 cup milk mixed with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice) or buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar for glaze
food coloring for glaze
Method
In large mixing bowl, cream together shortening, eggs, and sugar.
Add sour milk and vanilla.
Slowly add dry ingredients. Mixture will be thick.
Roll dough into 3/4-inch to 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Press down with oiled cookie stamp almost clear through the dough. Brush oil on the cookie stamp after pressing each cookie to prevent the dough from sticking to the stamp.
Bake at 350 degrees F. on middle rack in oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. If the designs melt away in the oven because the cookies puff up too much, try adding more flour to your dough, and be sure to make small balls, then press clear down to the cookie sheet with the stamp.
Cool for 10-20 minutes before decorating.
Mix some powdered sugar with water to make a glaze. Then add food coloring. Apply glaze with a paint brush.
You can use Betty Crocker’s Easy Writer food-safe pens to decorate your cookies.
Carla added a little water on a paint brush to lighten the green on the lower leaves of the rosebud.
More of Carla's Sugar Cookies
Left: #294 – Basket of Flowers;
Middle and right: #518 – Harvest Pumpkin and #486 – Rice Cake Lotus;
Additionally on right: #190 – Tulip