This year, butter up your sweethearts with a batch of sugar-cookie hugs and kisses. Make bite-size X's and O's for a bunch of friends or a pair or giant letters for a special sweetie.
Ingredients
COOKIE DOUGH
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cream of tartar
BUTTERCREAM ICING
- 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tbsp. milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and beat well, then mix in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, one third at a time, until thoroughly combined.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and flatten each into a disk. Cover each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or until the dough is firm enough to work with. If it becomes too firm, soften at room temperature for about 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Then, use a butter knife to cut out the cookies into X's and O's. Remind your child that giant letters need to be wider than smaller ones to keep them from breaking easily.
- Using a metal spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to a baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between them. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (longer for really big cookies) or until lightly browned around the edges.
- Remove the cookie sheets from the oven, place on wire racks and cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the rack and cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies, depending on their size.
- While the cookies are cooling, make the buttercream icing: Beat together the sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Add the milk a few drops at a time until the mixture is spreadable. Makes 1 1/2 cups.
- Frost the cookies with the icing and sprinkle on tinted red or pink sugar, if desired.
