Description:
I must admit, and I'm not bragging, I make the best sugar cookies on earth.
You too can learn to make these cookies. I will give you the carefully guarded family recipe and you will have to supply the time to get it right and add the love that makes these special on your own.

My grandmother made sugar cookies with us kids from the time we were tadpoles. I got my love of making sugar cookies from her. And I passed on the tradition to my nieces, nephew, children and grandchildren.


For years I thought that my grandmother created the recipe for the best sugar cookies ever. But, after grandmaw died I wanted to make some of her sugar cookies, but couldn't find the recipe. So I called my aunt (her sister) and asked if she had the recipe - she of course did and set me straight on who's recipe it was!


Just some words of advice - practice, practice, practice.
Make these and make them often. Make them for every occasion, not only for holidays! I have cutters for every occasion – for birthdays – dinosaur, clowns, Nemo, Pocahontas and lots more. Having a puppy or a caveman party for your child? - I have dog bone cutters. Need a flag, a dolphin, and a red bird? – I have it.


A word of caution - baking sugar cookies leads to cookie cutter collection and that leads to addiction and to storage problems.
I keep my cutters (200 maybe 300?) in pull out plastic drawers sorted by season. The drawers fill up the whole bottom of my china cabinet. I will give you some tips in the recipe too. I inherited all my grandmother, mother's and mother-in-law's cookie cutters as I am recognized as the best sugar cookie maker in both families. It's just not Christmas, Easter, etc. without my cookies.
So with no further ado:


Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups shortening (Crisco)
1 Tbs if vanilla AND one of almond flavoring (add more if you'd like, I usually do)
1 cup milk
5 lbs self-rising flour (yes, FIVE pounds - you may not use it all)

You will also need colored sugar, sprinkles, red hots, frosting, etc.



Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream shortening, eggs, milk, flavoring and sugar (make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. This will allow it to mix more evenly).
3. Add flour slowly until the dough is stiff (you should be able to roll it into a ball without it sticking to your hands - if it does stick add more flour).
4. Use your hands to knead to a smooth ball, then divide into two balls.
5. Roll out on floured surface (pastry cloth, tinfoil, butcher block) to 1/4 inch thickness.
6. Cut out with floured cookie cutters.
7. Place on a baking sheet. I like Air-Bake sheets as the cookies will bake more evenly and not burn on the bottom. You may want to use non-stick spray.
8. Sprinkle with colored sugar or cinnamon if desired or add other toppings (use cinnamon sprinkles and add red hots to make cute Rudolphs). Frost after cooking and cooling.
9. Bake 10 - 12 mins or until lightly brown. If you are using a dark cookie sheet, the time may differ. On your first batch, keep a close eye on the cookies and adjust time for your oven.
10. Remove from baking sheet and place on a cooling rack.
11. Makes a LOT. You may 3rd the ingredients easily to make fewer.

Tips:
1. For Best results - Make the dough the day ahead and refrigerate it, or at least 2 or 3 hours before baking. It rolls out much better if the dough is cold. Take only half of the dough out at one time (leave the rest in the frig) so the dough stays cool.
2. Dough can be refrigerated for one week.
3. The recipe makes a LOT of cookies. You can third the recipe to make less cookies.
4. These freeze well. I have kept them up to 1 year in an airtight container (so the cookies do not absorb odors) in the freezer. Freeze them unfrosted.
5. Use Crisco sticks to make measuring shortening easier and less messy.
6. You can also top them with icing (mix powdered sugar, food coloring and milk to desired consistency) or frosting after cooking and cooling.
7. Don’t skimp on the vanilla and almond flavoring - it is the key to their great taste (almond flavoring is my addition to the family recipe).
8. These also work great with cookie presses (roll into a ball and press stamp down to make impression). The cookie presses are very easy to use. My son easily made these at age two.
9. It helps if you have 3 or 4 baking sheets son the sheets can cool before you place the raw dough on it (if the sheets are hot - the dough will "melt" slightly).
10. You can tint the dough different colors by adding food coloring or paste to the mix before adding the flour. Make green shamrocks or pink hearts.
11. If you don't have time to make this dough you can dress up the store-bought sugar cookie dough by adding the vanilla and almond flavoring and mixing it in with your CLEAN, floured hands. Add more flour to make the dough stiffer. I have found store-bought sugar cookie dough is not stiff enough to make roll and cut out cookies.
12. Make your own colored sugar: Pour sugar in a glass bowl then add food coloring or paste drop by drop mixing it in the sugar with a spoon. Add to the desired color. Let dry thoroughly. Best to make the day before. Store in an airtight container.
13. Mix powdered cinnamon in sugar to desired taste (I like a lot of cinnamon, so my sugar and cinnamon is dark - but don't add too much - it wont' sprinkle well). Again store in an airtight container.
14. These are crisp cookies - to make them more like soft-baked add more milk and less flour (you may not be able to roll them out, but can drop them on the baking sheet by spoonful).
15. Give your little ones a full soda can (flour it first) to let them roll out their own dough.
16. To make cookie press cookies, roll the dough in a ball, then roll the ball in flour. Flour your cookies press, then press down on until dough is flattened. This is easiest for 2-3 year olds to do. My son was able to make these easily at age 2.
17. I use the Crisco baking sticks. They look like fat butter sticks and are found in the baking isle with the regular cans of Crisco. These are so much easier and less messy to use. If you want to use Crisco in a can - put boiling water into your measuring cup and allow it to warm the cup. Then drain and put the solid Crisco in. The Crisco should slide right out of the warm cup.
18. And lastly – don’t forget to take pictures of your creations and the kids creating them!

I must admit, and I'm not bragging, I make the best sugar cookies on earth (well at least next to those my Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Ethel made! 

You too can learn to make these cookies.  I will give you the carefully guarded family recipe and you will have to supply the time to get it right and add the love that makes these special on your own. 

My grandmother made sugar cookies with us kids from the time we were tadpoles.  I got my love of making sugar cookies from her.  And I passed on the tradition to my nieces, nephew, children and grandchildren. 

For years I thought that my grandmother created the recipe for the best sugar cookies ever.  But, after grandmaw died I wanted to make some of her sugar cookies, but couldn't find the recipe.  So I called my aunt (her sister) and asked if she had the recipe - she of course did and set me straight on who's recipe it was!  It was hers!  So get ready to learn how to make Aunt Ethel's Sugar Cookies!

Just some words of advice - practice, practice, practice. 

Make these and make them often.  Make them for every occasion, not only for holidays!  I have cutters for every occasion – for birthdays: dinosaurs, clowns, Nemo, Pocahontas and lots more.  Having a puppy or a caveman party for your child?: I have dog bone cutters.*  Need a flag, a dolphin, and a red bird? – I have it. 

*Once I was going to play a trick on my brother-in-law and make him dog bone sugar cookies. He always told me they had to pipe sunshine out to where I lived when my hubbie and I were dating and made slurs on the name of the community I was raised it.... so jokes are the order of the day!  I had all the cookies packed up in plastic containers and ready for delivery - BUT I transposed the tags from my Dad and Russell - so Dad got DOG BONES and I never did ask him what on earth he thought!  So, the joke was on me.  For future reference:  Always make sure your "joke" doesn't backfire!

As St. Patty's Day is coming up - add green food coloring to the mix (during the shortening and sugar creaming stage) to make green shamrocks!

A word of caution - baking sugar cookies leads to a cookie cutter collection and that leads to addiction and to storage problems. 

I keep my cutters (200 maybe 300?) in pull out plastic drawers sorted by season.  The drawers fill up the whole bottom of my china cabinet.  I will give you some tips in the recipe too.  I inherited all my grandmother, mother's and mother-in-law's cookie cutters as I am recognized as the best sugar cookie maker in both families.  It's just not Christmas, Easter, etc. without my cookies.
So with no further ado:

Aunt Ethel's Sugar Cookies

3 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups shortening (Crisco)
1 Tbs if vanilla AND one of almond flavoring (add more if you'd like, I usually do)
1 cup milk
5 lbs self-rising flour (yes, FIVE pounds - you may not use it all)

You will also need colored sugar, sprinkles, red hots, frosting, etc.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream shortening, eggs, milk, flavoring and sugar (make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature.  This will allow it to mix more evenly). 
3. Add flour slowly until the dough is stiff (you should be able to roll it into a ball without it sticking to your hands - if it does stick add more flour). 
4. Use your hands to knead to a smooth ball, then divide into two balls. 
5. Roll out on floured surface (pastry cloth, tinfoil, butcher block) to 1/4 inch thickness. 
6. Cut out with floured cookie cutters. 
7. Place on a baking sheet. I like Air-Bake sheets as the cookies will bake more evenly and not burn on the bottom. You may want to use non-stick spray.
8. Sprinkle with colored sugar or cinnamon if desired or add other toppings (use cinnamon sprinkles and add red hots to make cute Rudolphs).  Frost after cooking and cooling. 
9. Bake 10 - 12 mins or until lightly brown.  If you are using a dark cookie sheet, the time may differ.  On your first batch, keep a close eye on the cookies and adjust time for your oven.
10. Remove from baking sheet and place on a cooling rack. 
11. Makes a LOT.  You may 3rd the ingredients easily to make fewer.

Tips: 

1. For Best results - Make the dough the day ahead and refrigerate it, or at least 2 or 3 hours before baking.  It rolls out much better if the dough is cold.  Take only half of the dough out at one time (leave the rest in the frig) so the dough stays cool.
2. Dough can be refrigerated for one week.
3. The recipe makes a LOT of cookies.  You can third the recipe to make less cookies.
4. These freeze well.  I have kept them up to 1 year in an airtight container (so the cookies do not absorb odors) in the freezer. Freeze them unfrosted.
5. Use Crisco sticks to make measuring shortening easier and less messy.
6. You can also top them with icing (mix powdered sugar, food coloring and milk to desired consistency) or frosting after cooking and cooling.
7. Don’t skimp on the vanilla and almond flavoring - it is the key to their great taste (almond flavoring is my addition to the family recipe).
8. These also work great with cookie presses (roll into a ball and press stamp down to make impression).   The cookie presses are very easy to use. My son easily made these at age two.
9. It helps if you have 3 or 4 baking sheets son the sheets can cool before you place the raw dough on it (if the sheets are hot - the dough will "melt" slightly).
10. You can tint the dough different colors by adding food coloring or paste to the mix before adding the flour.  Make green shamrocks or pink hearts.
11. If you don't have time to make this dough you can dress up the store-bought sugar cookie dough by adding the vanilla and almond flavoring and mixing it in with your CLEAN, floured hands.  Add more flour to make the dough stiffer.  I have found store-bought sugar cookie dough is not stiff enough to make roll and cut out cookies.
12. Make your own colored sugar:  Pour sugar in a glass bowl then add food coloring or paste drop by drop mixing it in the sugar with a spoon.  Add to the desired color.  Let dry thoroughly. Best to make the day before.  Store in an airtight container.
13. Mix powdered cinnamon in sugar to desired taste (I like a lot of cinnamon, so my sugar and cinnamon is dark - but don't add too much - it wont' sprinkle well).  Again store in an airtight container.
14. These are crisp cookies - to make them more like soft-baked add more milk and less flour (you may not be able to roll them out, but can drop them on the baking sheet by spoonful).
15. Give your little ones a full soda can (flour it first) to let them roll out their own dough.
16. To make cookie press cookies, roll the dough in a ball, then roll the ball in flour.  Flour your cookies press, then press down on until dough is flattened.  This is easiest for 2-3 year olds to do.  My son was able to make these easily at age 2.
17. I use the Crisco baking sticks.  They look like fat butter sticks and are found in the baking isle with the regular cans of Crisco.  These are so much easier and less messy to use.  If you want to use Crisco in a can - put boiling water into your measuring cup and allow it to warm the cup.  Then drain and put the solid Crisco in.  The Crisco should slide right out of the warm cup.
    

And lastly – don’t forget to take pictures of your creations and the kids creating them!

If you belong to eBay, please go vote YES for this my Guide. If you don't go join just to vote for my Guides & Reviews!

http://reviews.ebay.com/Best-Sugar-Cookies-in-the-World-Ever_W0QQugidZ10000000001690913

BTW, this recipe, cookie cutters, pastry cloth, rolling pin and an assortment of sprinkles would make a great present for a newlywed or holiday or just because present.