Candy Cookies

These cookies are very festive and easy! And tasty! From Betty Crocker’s Cookbook!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 package (8 oz) candies (red and green m&ms, in this case)

Heat oven to 375 F. Mix sugars, margarine, shortening, vanilla, and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until light brown, 8-10 minutes. (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Emily’s notes: My favorite scent ever is vanilla. Every time I bake with vanilla, I take a huge whiff of it and my insides get happy. I went to bake at my friend’s and she had imitation vanilla, and it did NOT smell the same. Nothing can beat the smell of pure vanilla extract. Period.

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Soft Sugar Cookies

These cookies are a recipe my mother got from a  friend. They are soft and yummy, perfect for decorating!

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 c. buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon of vinegar + milk)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 3/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Icing: (from Rockhill Mennonite Cookbook)

• 2 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2/3 cup crisco
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

For the cookies:

Cream together the sugar, margarine, baking soda, and salt until smooth. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla to the mixture and mix well. Mix the flour and baking powder separately and then add to the mixture and stir it all very well. Chill the dough overnight, or your cookies will not hold their shape as well when baking.

To cut out the cookies, flour a flat surface, such as a table with a layer of flour. Flour your rolling pin and roll the dough, not too thin, perhaps a quarter of an inch thick. Take your favorite cookie cutter shapes, dip them in flour, and carefully cut out shapes and place them on a pan and stick them in the oven for 6-8 minutes at 375F. DO NOT let them brown. You want them to be nice and light colored. They’re soft cookies.

While you let them cool, make the icing.

Icing:

Mix all of the ingredients together and beat for 5 minutes straight. This icing does not need to be refrigerated and can be kept for weeks in a tupperware container.

Separate the icing into different bowls, and mix different colors. Usually my family does red, green, blue, and white, but this year we found some neon food color and went a little crazy with the colors. Ice your cookies, and feel free to stick any kinds of candies, such as mini m&ms, or other small delectable treats on your cookies, personalize them and make them your own!