Christmas is coming!

So many things come to mind when thinking of Christmas, and they all bring a smile to my face. 

One of the things that brings the biggest smile?

COOKIES!!!

Dessert, parties, cookie exchanges . . . 

Cookies play a big part in the holidays.

Luckily for cozy fans, there are tons of tasty cookie recipes in many of our favorite cozy mysteries! 

Every Tuesday, now until Christmas, I'll be sharing some amazing cookie recipes from some of your favorite authors and books! 

Today's cookie is from

HOLIDAY GRIND

by 

Cleo Coyle

CLARE'S OLD-FASHIONED 

SUGAR COOKIES

At the start of the holiday season, Clare Cosi mixes up a big batch of this sugar cookie dough and keeps it in the fridge, wrapped tightly in plastic. When she's ready to make a sheet pan full of cookies, she breaks off a piece of dough about the size of an orange, rolls it out, and bakes up a panful so she can serve freshly baked cookies to guests with their after-dinner coffee. 

Makes 48-60 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters and how thin or thick you prefer to roll your dough.

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs, room temperature!

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Step 1---Make your dough: 

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar.

Beat in the room temperature eggs and vanilla. 

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until a smooth dough forms. (Do not overwork dough or your cookies will be tough.)

Lightly pat the dough into a big ball, wrap snugly in plastic, and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

Step 2---Roll your dough:

First, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Break off an orange-sized ball of dough, place it on a flat surface that's been rubbed with flour, and (if you know what you're doing) roll away!

For a thin, crisp cookie---which Clair recommends---roll the dough between 1/4 and 1/8 inch thick.

If you prefer a thicker cookie, roll the dough 1/2 inch thick. 

WARNING: If you skipped the chilling of the dough as suggested in Step 1, it may be too warm to work with and will stick to everything. So chill it, baby! When you take it out of the fridge, it will be firm. If it's too firm, let it warm until it becomes pliable. If you start having trouble rolling out the dough, then read the following suggestions to prevent sticking, tearing, or the toughening of your cookies by adding too much dusting flour!

Parchment paper solution: A good way to prevent dough from sticking is to roll the dough out between two flour-dusted sheets of parchment paper. The best method for rolling, by the way, is to roll in one direction, then turn the dough (paper and all) clockwise to the right and roll again. Keep turning the dough and rolling, turning the dough and rolling, until it's nice and thin. Before removing the paper, slide the sheet of rolled-out dough (paper and all) onto a flat pan and place the whole thing in the fridge to chill for ten to fifteen minutes. This will firm up the butter in the dough and make it less sticky so you can easily peel away the top sheet of paper without chunks of dough sticking to it. 

Step 3---Cut your dough: 

Once the dough is all rolled out, cut the dough into shapes with cookie cutters. 

Place the cookies carefully on a sheet pan covered in parchment paper or silicon sheets. (If you have neither, use cooking spray to keep the cookies from sticking.) 

Ball up any remaining dough pieces and either place them back with the remaining dough in your fridge or roll them out all over again to cut more cookies. 

Step 4---Bake: 

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, so watch your cookies and don't let them overcook, or they'll be tough instead of tender!

Determine the best time for baking based on your particular oven and your cookie's size and thickness.

Step 5--- Decorate: 

While your freshly baked cookies are still on the sheet pan, brush them with Sugar Cookie Glaze and sprinkle with colored sugar.

SUGAR COOKIE GLAZE

Ingredients

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Few drops food coloring

Combine the sugar, milk, and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

Clare makes three bowls of this glaze: one with red food coloring, one with green, and one she leaves as a clear glaze with no coloring. 

After creatively "painting" her holiday cookies, she sprinkles them with colored sugar.

Oh my goodness. I am so hungry right now! It's a very good thing I don't have any of these cookies on hand! 

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

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