So, I have it in my head that sugar cookies are meant to be baked and nibbled on a hot summer day while sipping a tall, cool glass of lemonade.  While they are delicious in this scenario, they can also be delicious with a nice warm cup of tea on a cold, dreary, almost Spring Day.

This recipe is one that has been handed down from Dave’s side of the family.  My recollection of eating them for the first time, was, indeed on a hot summer day many years ago as we were floating around on intertubes on the Cole pond. This was probably a mere 36 years ago!    The cookies were probably baked early in the morning before the heat of the day made the kitchen unbearable.

Honestly, I was never a fan of a plain sugar cookie before tasting these cookies.  Others were always just bland and not so exciting.  These are delicate, crispy and full of nice vanilla flavor.  Both Oil and butter are used in the recipe to make the crispy, but really flavorful dough.  Be sure to really beat the oil, butter, and sugar well. Then whip the eggs in one at a time to get the mixture light and fluffy before adding the dry ingredients.  Carefully measure the flour so you don’t get too much and make the cookies heavy.  I highly recommend a good quality vanilla to be used in this recipe.  It makes a big difference.

The dough really needs a good chill before baking – even if it’s mid March in snowy Ohio.

light and fluffy dough. But, it still needs to be chilled so that the cookies don’t flatten out too quickly when baking.

dough balls scooped with a small melon baller. This makes the process much easier and your hands don’t warm up the dough too much this way.

chilled dough, ready for scooping and rolling into balls. The dough can also be frozen if desired.

This photo is not so great, but you can see the dough balls have been flattened with the bottom of a small glass. A little pattern is actually kind of nice, so if you have a glass with a varied depth bottom, that might be ideal.

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Yield: 6 to 8 dozen cookies

Prep time approximately 10 minutes.

Preferred chill time in refrigerator 6 hours or overnight best.

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp. soda

4 cups flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

 

Instructions

Cream oil, butter and sugars until well incorporated.  Add eggs, one at a time and vanilla.

Sift dry ingredients.  Stir in and blend, trying not to over mix.

Cover bowl and chill dough 4-6 hours or overnight is best.

Preheat oven to 375′

Using a small melon baller, scoop about 1 tsp. of dough into a ball.  Roll in granulated sugar.  Place ball on cookie sheet. Flatten ball slightly with sugar dipped glass.  If desired press dough with fork to make a design.

Bake 8 to 12 minutes depending upon your oven.  Cookies should not be brown, but the edges should just be turning golden brown.  Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to rack.

Store in airtight container.  These will freeze well in an airtight container.

 

Notes

This recipe is from my mother in law, Rose Marie Cole.  She tells me her maternal grandmother made them for her as a child.  It is a favorite summer cookie recipe of my family.