WHO'S YOUR DADDY?!

Or should I say, "Who's your Sugar Daddy?" Kids love cookies. Who am I kidding...I love cookies! And after eating so many different types of cookies, I found my favorite while on a trip to Disneyland with my kids. They were sugar cookies, and they were the best cookies ever - sweet and chewy and perfect with a cup of tea.

I think what I like about sugar cookies is the fact that they stand on their own so nicely without any garnish at all. They don't need chocolate chips, nuts or dried fruit to help them along. They are simple and uncomplicated.

I thought my kids could run you through this one because next to the Cookie Monster, they are tops in the cookie field! Don't they look like professionals?


Put the
butter in the mixer with the paddle attachment and beat it until soft and smooth. Be sure to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure the butter is evenly whipped.

Once the butter is nice and smooth, add the granulated sugar. Whip until light and fluffy.

When the butter and sugar mixture is light and fluffy, add eggs buttermilk and vanilla. Whip until thoroughly incorporated.

That is the first step finished with. You will notice that when you bake cookies or cakes, you always mix the wet ingredients first and then add the dry. Usually the first stage of wet mixing involves whipping either fat or eggs with sugar until light and fluffy. That serves the purpose of building volume by adding air to the mixture, otherwise you would end up with a low rise instead of a sky scraper! That's just a little bit of baking theory for you to ponder over.

Moving along...........

Combine all dry ingredients thoroughly. Add them to the creamed butter and sugar and mix thoroughly. At this stage you will notice that this resembles more of a paste than a dough. Actually, this paste is very similar in texture to mashed potatoes, however...it wouldn't go so well with gravy!

Turn the dough out onto a cutting board and divide into two halves. Form into two balls. Lay two pieces of plastic wrap on a counter top and form each ball into a "log" shape. Place one log on each piece of plastic wrap. Wrap each log in plastic and twist the ends. Chill for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut loge into 1/2 inch discs and lay out on cookie sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes. Ideally, there should be no color on a sugar cookie, so gauge your first batch to see how hot your oven is burning.

Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar as soon as they are removed from the oven.

Cool and serve.

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups butter
3 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 Tbsp buttermilk

Method:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract
• Combine all dry ingredients thoroughly.
• Add dry ingredients to creamed butter/sugar and mix thoroughly.
  
• Turn dough out onto cutting board and form into two balls.
• Form each ball into a log and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for one hour.
• Slice logs into 1/2 " cookies.
• Bake on cookie sheets approximately 12 minutes on middle rack of oven preheated to 350degrees.
• Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar while still hot after removing from oven.