Rhonda’s Famous Sugar Cookies

Day 17 – Christmas Cookie Style

In case you missed yesterday’s ‘Day 16 Cookie’ post for Linzer Cookies, CLICK HERE!  Today’s {NEW} cookie recipe is Rhonda’s Famous Sugar Cookies.

Who is this famous Rhonda?  No other, than my mom!  She has been making these sugar cookies for at least 15-20 years.  Crazy to think she has been making this recipe that long, but now that I started thinking back, it really has been that long.  Wow, I feel old.

You ask any of my friends, family, or anyone that went to our wedding — they will rave and tell you how great these cookies are.   People keep telling her she needs to start a cookie business.  (I really think she should!)

In college, every season (Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s, Day, Easter, etc), my roommates knew what to find in my care package from home.  I’d have to hide the cookies!

I have never attempted the recipe before.  I think because I didn’t even want to compete with greatness!

She passed along the recipe to me this year and said I could use it for my cookie blog this year.  I mean, I felt honored.  However, nervous at the same time.  It would be one thing to make the cookies, but to decorate them?  That requires additional patience that often times I do not have.

Thankfully and luckily, this year I participated in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2014.  I had received from OXO an 8 piece Baker’s Silicone Decorating Bottle Kit.  Seriously, if it wasn’t for this kit, I do not think I would have been able to decorate anywhere near what my mom can do.  I’ve already put on my Christmas List that I needed to get another kit so then I could have all my icing colors in each bottle ready to decorate.

I made two different types of frostings.  The green frosting that you see in the pictures is my mom’s buttercream frosting.  This frosting is so tasty.  I put the frosting in one of the Silicone Decorating Bottles and used the small writing tip.  I iced the entire border and then squeezed out icing to fill in the middle (using the nozzle to spread as I was squeezing out).  So easy to use and you can control how much frosting comes out at one time.

After you ice, let sit out for several hours to overnight and the frosting will harden on the surface of the cookie.  You can divide up the frosting in different bowls and add a few drops of food coloring to dye whatever colors you might want to decorate with.

The other type of frosting I wanted to try was the glaze style that goes on more liquid, but then hardens on the cookie.  One of the other bloggers I follow – I am Baker, has an excellent recipe and tutorial on her site.  See below for ingredients and direct link to her page.  This icing hardens within just a few hours.

Once icing hardens, you can store in an airtight container. Lay a piece of wax paper in between cookies if you want to stack on top of each other.  (You can keep in a chilled environment, like the fridge or at room temp.)

After decorating these cookies, I was so happy.  My husband kept joking with me asking where the empty container was from the grocery store that those cookies belonged in.  Luckily, he saw me bake the actual sugar cookies a few days ago!  HAHA.

THANK YOU MOM for not only sharing the recipe with me, but also allowing me to share it on my page.  I hope everyone enjoys this recipe as much as we have within our family.

Last Year’s Flashback Recipe:  Pretzel Chocolate Bites.  Only 3 ingredients.  Perfect combination of salty/sweet.  Click on photo at bottom of post for a direct link to this recipe!

As a reminder, all the posts I will be using the hashtag #25DaysCookieStyle.  If you happen to make any of the cookie recipes, tag me on social media and use this hashtag.  I’d love to see all of your holiday baking photos from your home!

Happy Baking!

5.0 from 4 reviews

Rhonda's Famous Sugar Cookies

 

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Author: Sweet Dash of Sass

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2½ cups flour

Instructions

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Add vanilla and salt. Slowly add flour and mix just until combined.
2. Place dough on plastic wrap. Flatten to a disk shape. Completely wrap in plastic wrap. Chill dough for 3-4 hours before rolling.
3. You can also freeze the dough at this point. Just thaw in fridge before moving on to next step.
4. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Let sit for 5 minutes before rolling.
6. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. (About ¼ inch thickness). Cut out cookie shapes using cookie cutters (dust cutters with flour to avoid dough sticking to cutters). Try to cut out cookies with cutters as close as possible to each other to avoid re-rolling the excess pieces multiple times. If dough becomes too soft, you may need to re-chill the dough for a few minutes to harden the butter back up in the dough.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until barely colored. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely.
8. Cookies can be frosted and decorated or eaten just plain.
9. Store unfrosted cookies in an airtight container until you are ready to ice.

Notes

Tip #1: Instead of rolling dough on a floured surface. Place parchment paper (or plastic wrap) underneath a portion of the dough on table. Lay plastic wrap on top of dough as well. Roll out dough to thickness needed. The plastic wrap saves the mess from the flour and you don’t have to worry about the dough sticking to the rolling pin.

3.2.2885

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

3-4 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

In mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and beat on low speed, scrapping sides until fluffy (1-2 minutes).  If frosting is too thick, you can add milk in increments of teaspoons.  If too runny, add additional powdered sugar.  Divide frosting into separate bowls and add a few drops of food coloring to icing and mix to create different batches of colors for your cookies!

Ornament Icing (Icing Glaze Style):

Enough to ice 1 dozen cookies

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients.

Recipe from:  I am Baker — click on link for excellent tips on how to decorate the cookies

 #25DaysCookieStyle Flashback Recipe Below  (click on photo)

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