(Inspired by “A 25-Year-Old Piece of Oak,” p. 178, Cornfields to Codfish)
A day baking Christmas cookies must include a frosted cutout sugar cookie. My sister-in-law shared these recipes for cookies and frosting with me many years ago; now they are the only recipes I use for sugar cookies.
I think the almond extract gives the cookie a bit more interesting taste than traditional cookies made with vanilla flavoring. The almond in the cookie and the vanilla in the frosting complement each other really well . . . really, really well.
Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
1 c. sugar
1 c. margarine
2 eggs
3 T. milk
3 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. almond flavoring
Combine flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, margarine, eggs, milk, and flavorings. Add to flour mixture. Combine and form a ball, cover, and let stand in fridge overnight. Roll out and bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes.
Christmas Cookie Frosting
Ingredients
¼ c. butter at room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 T. evaporated milk
Cream butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla. Add milk gradually until frosting is right consistency. I at least double this frosting batch for one batch of cookies, but it is easier to mix one frosting batch at a time, then put together if you want.
“At a Christmas cookie swap . . . the resplendency of that Christmas table confirmed for me that although its joints are loose, the solid wood should carry us through another twenty-five years.” (p. 180, Cornfields to Codfish.)