Halloween Sugar Cookies!

Making sugar cookies is quickly becoming a family holiday tradition for us. This year my daughter Samantha was able to get in on more of the process of rolling and cutting out the cookies. It was a complete blast and we were both covered in flour, she had it in her hair, on her face, and all over her clothes. To say we had fun is a complete understatement and I'm already looking forward to us making her teachers Christmas cookies.

We chose not decorate the cookies with frosting to save time and a few calories, which has not reduced the joy Sammie has when she gets to eat a cookie she got to help make.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups whit sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs adn vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 400º F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on undgreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. (I actually had to cook mine for ten minutes to be able to scoop them off the cookie sheet.)

Christmas Sugar Cookies

I always have fond memories of my Mom making sugar cookies for Christmas and how much fun they were to decorate, so I just had to be sure and continue this with my family. While my little one is still to young to do to much, she did help dump the ingredients in the mixer and cut out the cookies with the cookie cutter. She is destined to be my little helper in the kitchen for sure.  I also got a little creative with the decorating and let my often under used art abilities loose.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups whit sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs adn vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 400º F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on undgreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. (I actually had to cook mine for ten minutes to be able to scoop them off the cookie sheet.)