Sugar Cookies for the Holidays

The holidays are here!  I can’t believe Christmas is Tuesday. Can you?  I feel like it was just Halloween. But since it is the holidays that means holiday cards.

Holiday cards? On a food blog? Yes! Because every year since A was born we’ve been sending out these cards. And every year has had a different theme. When A was 1 we did vintage at Union Station.

When he was 2 we decided to do a Fall theme with sweaters and those beautiful red and orange leaves. What you don’t know is that we shot these photos in Pasadena where not only were there no red or orange leaves, we were all sweating buckets due to the 90 degree heat.  But hey, we still had a good time.

This year, our photographer, Jennifer Castle, whose documented every one of our cards, suggested we bake cookies. Being the food blogger I am I jumped at the opportunity. I mean, I love to bake and nothing says holidays more to me than making cookies and family. But what made it a really great idea was that this year A is finally old enough to help me measure, mix and roll.

So please indulge me as I share the family photos Jen took while we all made this year’s Christmas and Hanukkah cookies. That’s right, I’m cheating a little with this post. While I swear that A and I made the cookies, all the photos except the first three are from Jen.

Yes, A did have fun mixing the dough, but as you can see, he enjoyed eating the cookie dough just as much. Course you know that only means one thing… I raised him right!

Next up, rolling out the dough and cutting up our cookies:

And of course tasting the final product, because let’s face it, what good is making cookies if you don’t get to eat them afterward?

All in all we had a blast and can’t thank Jen enough for capturing our messy merry making. And the best news is, we still have a ton of dough left over to make even more cookies.  So, we hope you have as much fun making this year’s sugar cookies as we did.

Happy Holidays from your Kitchy Cooker!

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about four minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined, about one minute. Add the lemon zest.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Divide the dough in half and freeze for one hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°.
5. Sprinkle flour over a hard surface and roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
6. Cut into desired shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.
7. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Serve as is or iced with your favorite frosting.