Marilyn's Soft Sugar Cookies

Valentine’s Day in my youth was something to look forward to. We decorated shoe boxes with a slit in the top to collect valentines from all of our classmates. Some had candy or gum inside the envelope, but better than candy, gum or even chocolate (in my opinion) was the soft sugar cookies that somebody’s mom would make. (Usually the room mother.)

When I married and started having my own children, decorated sugar cookies became a special holiday tradition. It wasn’t just for Valentine’s Day, but Halloween and Christmas too. For many years, I spent the time to decorate each cookie with piped on frosting. As the years went by and I had eight children in thirteen years, I found that sprinkling on colored decors was a faster, easier way to decorate. Besides, the children ate the cookies faster than I could decorate them.

I have tried many recipes through the years, but this one is my family’s favorite. You can substitute sour cream for the buttermilk if you want, but I really do prefer the taste and softness that comes when using buttermilk.
Soft Sugar Cookies

5 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt together. Sift several times if necessary until thoroughly mixed together and then set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in remaining flour by hand if mixer cannot handle the stiff dough. Dough will be sticky, but adding too much flour will make the cookies hard. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. This will make the dough easier to handle. Roll out about 1/4” thick on a well floured board. Use only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until the cookies are light golden on the bottom and the edges are just starting to turn brown. Do not bake too long or the cookies will be hard instead of soft. Cool on a wire rack. Frost with Butter Cream Frosting and decorate as desired. If using a pastry bag and tips to decorate, use Decorating Frosting. Yield: 4 to 5 dozen cookies, depending on the size.

Butter Cream Frosting

½ cup soft butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
4 to 5 Tbsp. milk or cream
food coloring (opt.)

Beat butter until soft. If butter is too hard, microwave for 10 seconds but do not melt. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk to make the desired consistency. Add food coloring if desired.

Decorating Frosting

1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 ½ tsp. white vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 Tbsp. milk
food coloring (opt.)

Beat butter, shortening and vanilla until fluffy. Add powdered sugar alternately with the milk. Add food coloring if desired. Place in a pastry bag with decorating tips and decorate. If using this frosting to frost cookies, you may want to thin frosting with milk to make it easier to spread or use Butter Cream Frosting.