cookies in our house. I have recently started reading a blog called Our
Best Bites, which I have to say is very aptly named because everything
that I have made from their site and bitten into has been the best. These
sugar cookies definitely fit the mold.
I am not a sugar cookie lover but Josh is and he approved of these. So
that's a check in the pro column right there. Other checks in the pro column:
1. I used margarine instead of butter to keep the cookies pareve*, and they
came out delicious.
2. I did not let the margarine come to room temperature because that would
have required advance planning and we're more of the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-bakers
around here.
3. The dough rolled out so nicely, straight onto my countertop covered in a
small amount of flour and it did not stick. This is magic cookie dough.
4. The cookies baked for a full 12 minutes in my
somewhat-correct-temperature-challenged-oven and they came out soft and chewy
and not at all browned on the bottom.
Here is the recipe, with many happy holiday vibes being sent to the
wonderful people at Our Best Bites.
2 sticks of margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
In the bowl of a large standing mixer, cream the margarine and sugar for a
full two minutes until creamy. I needed to mix mine for a good five minutes but
that could be because my margarine was cold, straight from the fridge. Add the
egg and vanilla and mix again. Add the dry ingredients, mixing and scraping down
the bowl as needed. I scraped a lot. And this made me nervous because all I saw
ahead of me was an afternoon filled with sticky cookie dough clinging to the counter as
I tried to roll it out. And yet that is not what happened. I wrapped the cookie
dough in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for an hour. Rolled it out,
cut out the cookies and shockingly enough, every single cookie came off the
counter easily. I didn't even need a spatula. Just my hands.
This recipe made 45(!) 3.5" dreidel cookies, so unless you have an extremely
large family, this should be enough to get you through a good 'ole family
Chanukah party.
*Ironically enough, the icing I made wound up being dairy so I could
have used butter in the cookies after all.