About

These sugar cookies are perfect for every occasion and are my family’s favorite pastry. The recipe comes from “The Great Big Cookie Book” by Hilaire Walden, a cookie book with over 200 recipes. My family’s copy of this book was well-used by my grandmother for years and has now been passed on to my parents and me. These sugar cookies work well for winter holidays, Valentine’s Day, birthdays and more. The addition of lemon elevates these cookies from “regular” to “delicious.” For the purposes of this recipe, I have included an icing recipe, but these cookies can be eaten with or without icing. The recipe makes about 30 cookies.

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

grated rind of 1 lemon

pinch of salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the icing:

confectioners sugar

milk

food dye

Directions

With an electric mixer, cream the butter until soft. Add the sugar gradually and continue beating until light and fluffy. 

Using a spoon, slowly mix in the whole egg yolk. Add the vanilla extract, lemon rind, and salt. Stir to mix well.

Sift the flour over the mixture and stir to blend. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out the dough until about ⅛ inch thick.

Stamp out shapes or rounds with floured cookie cutters.

Bake for about eight minutes, until lightly colored. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before icing.

To make the icing: mix confectioner sugar, milk, and food dye together until a desirable texture and color is reached.