Pastel Sugar Cookies

Who doesn’t love sugar cookies? Well, my hips don’t, but nobody asked them anyway. Really, I prefer baking to cooking, it’s just so relaxing, don’t you think? Like I said though, my hips and too many baked goods don’t really agree, so I have to limit my baking to once or twice a month. Since I don’t bake that often, when I do, I use the good stuff. Real butter, real sugar, you know, everything that makes a delicious treat really bad. I figure, if I send half to work with my husband, and another portion home with my pregnant sis, I won’t eat too many and my hips and I will get along just fine.  

 

Pastel Sugar Cookies
Adapted from: All Recipes.com

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups butter (2 1/2 sticks)

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Food Coloring of choice

1/4 cup white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until just blended.

3. Separate the dough into 2 or 3 zip top bags (I recommend the ones with the sliding zipper). Add 2-3 drops of food coloring to each bag and zip closed. Squish/knead each bag until the food coloring has blended into the dough. (This would be a fun step for kids to help with.) Place bags of dough in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to let the butter reharden a bit.
4. Remove bags from freezer and cut a corner off of each bag. Squeeze out portions of dough and roll into walnut sized balls. Roll the balls in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned at the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.