cooking with ree

Baba’s Sugar Cookies

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A few years after my Baba passed away, I brought these sugar cookies to my Dad’s house for our family Christmas. My dad took one bite of a cookie, and his entire demeanor changed. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “Ree Ree, these are Mama’s cookies!”

He then told me a story. When he was a little boy, his mama would help him roll out the dough. She would let him cut the shapes with cookie cutters. He said his favorite was to make little bears.

One bite of that cookie, and he was a little boy in his mother’s kitchen making cookies at her side again.

Since then, every single time I make these, I remember the Christmas that my dad cried while eating sugar cookies in the kitchen.

A Few Notes and Tips

  • Chilling the dough is not necessary if you are going to flatten them with a glass dipped in sugar. BUT. If you are going to roll the dough out to cut shapes, you will definitely want to chill the dough.
  • Roll chilled dough between two pieces of parchment paper so it will not stick. That way you won’t have to add flour, either, which could change the way the dough bakes. You can even cut shapes and bake the cookies on the same parchment on your baking sheet!
  • To prevent shaped cookies from spreading and losing their shape, chill them around 15 minutes right before baking.
  • This dough works great in a cookie press. I have found it works best at room temperature. But, once you have pressed the cookies into shapes, chill them for around 15 minutes right before baking to retain the shape.
  • The cookies are delicious with just sugar on the top. They are equally delicious iced or as a sandwich cookie with frosting between them.
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add eggs one at a time
Add the oil and powdered sugar
Mix in the dry ingredients; beat well.
Chill the dough! No one will judge you if you eat some, too!
I love using a metal scoop so the cookies are all the same size! Ree’s Amazon Finds and Favorite Things

Flatten the balls of dough with a glass dipped in sugar.
Careful to not over-bake! They are done when the edges are just starting to turn brown.

Baba’s Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

  • Servings: 60 cookies
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 4 cups flour

Directions

  1. Cream butter & sugar.
  2. Beat in eggs, one at a time
  3. Mix in powdered sugar and oil.
  4. Add vanilla; mix well.
  5. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix well.
  6. Chill about one hour.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  8. Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet lined with parchment or silipat pad. These scoops are a great way to make uniform round cookies. Ree’s Amazon Finds and Favorite Things
  9. Press dough to flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.
  10. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.
  11. Remove from oven; let cookies “rest” on the baking sheet for at least one minute. Finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Ree Oxford
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