It’s Christmas cookie baking time. Do you have the holiday tradition of baking that tried and true, old family cookie recipe every year? Well we do in our home…this is something I remember doing every year growing up as a kid. My mom would let us cut out dozens and dozens of cookies to decorate every Christmas break from school. My brother and I would sit on the counter using the cookie cutters and after they came out of the oven we would pick our favorite color icing and slather it on each cookie, I think some even managed to go straight to our mouths never making it to a cookie.
This recipe is so easy and requires no special ingredients to get that good ole’ fashion flavor that we all remember as a kid. Below you can print the cookie and the icing recipe that has been in our family for years. There’s nothing special about them, they just always remind me of home.
- 3/4 C Sugar
- 1/2 C Melted Shortening
- 2 Eggs Beaten
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 C Flour
- 1 tsp Cream Tartar
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Combine Sugar, Shortening, Eggs, and Vanilla with a mixer. Add Remaining ingredients and mix until a dough ball forms. Chill for one hours. Roll out dough 1/8" thick, cut into shapes and bake on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 6-10 minutes depending on oven temp.
- I only bake these cookies for 6 minutes and let them cool on the cookies sheet. The heat coming off it will finish the baking time and give you a firm yet soft cookie.
- 1 C Powdered Sugar
- 3 tsp Whole Milk
- 1 Drop food coloring (color of your choice)
- Dash of Vanilla (optional)
- Add Sugar to a bowl, stir in milk and food coloring until you have a thick icing that is spreadable with a knife.
- If you accidently add too much milk just add more sugar until it thickens up.
These are my all time favorite cookie ever but I haven’t made them in years. The melted Crisco is interesting…may have to give your version a try! Love your new feather too. 🙂
Yes, I have a favorite cut-out cookie I make every year, except this year. Hopefully one of my new DILs will 🙂 A feather? It should be a rock, lol!!!
Barb you are to funny. The rock was to heavy LOL. How nice to have a DIL take over the task.
HI Dawndie! Oh, these little cookies look and sound delicious! Baking cookies with the little ones makes wonderful sweet memories. I like the blue frosting too! My little grand daughter would love this blue icing as it would remind her of her favorite movie at the moment “Frozen”! 🙂 I have an old fashioned sugar cookie that I bake, but the lady who gave me the recipe called them ‘tea cakes’ so I do too!
Thanks always for popping in to see me.
You are the sweetie,
Shelia 😉
Shelia, yes the cookies reminded me of that movie too, they also fit with my decor colors this Christmas.
Yum Dawn! I just finished making cut outs this year too. My recipe is similar but butter is used instead of Crisco and confectioners sugar instead of reg. sugar. I might have to try this with the Crisco. Does it make them more crispy to use Crisco?
Kris
Kris, no the cookies aren’t crispy at all they are soft. I only bake them for 6 minutes though I don’t like crunchy cookies. I think crisco was used because back in the day (very old recipe) it was cheap and available. I still use it in baking most of the time and find it works much better than butter.
Dawn, one of my granddaughters would absolutely love the color of your icing because she’s such a “Frozen” fan. She’s only 8, and I got her a Frozen charm bracelet (among other things) for Christmas. I’ll have to admit that I hadn’t thought of blue icing, but if I can sneak in some time, I may have to make some of these!
Jane, I thought of that movie too when I made them, plus they matched my Christmas color theme this year.