We are our parents’ legacies. They didn’t fill in all the gaps and soften the jagged edges of our future, but they fashioned the way we view the world, directly and indirectly.
Sugar cookies lit up my childhood. They were one of my mother’s favorites. I didn’t even have to step through the front door to smell the deliciousness. If I were outside playing, I stopped what I was doing and came running.
The experts say smell is one of our most indelible memories. I believe it. I’d go further and say the smells wafting out of our mother’s or grandmother’s kitchens left an imprint that follows us the rest of our lives, and often shapes our tastes. Maybe it goes beyond smells. Bowls, utensils, the sight of a glass-measuring cup filled to the brim with fluffy, white flour. The concentration on my mother’s face, and the swish of her starched apron. The delicate scent of vanilla and the sandpaper sound of sugar being mixed with butter.
She would carefully explain each step of a recipe, as if she were teaching an adult to cook. When the cookies went in the oven, she would let me lick the bowl. I used a wooden spoon, but the term stuck and I asked my own kids, if they would like to lick the bowl. A time-honored tradition. Even though my sons are grown, I still would never think of washing the bowl without asking.
My mother, whom everyone called Peach, or Peachie (NEVER Peaches!), worked from an endless supply of recipes. Some out of a book, some passed down, some cut out of the morning’s newspaper. I don't know the derivation of this sugar cookie recipe. I only know my momma used it and it’s the most delicious sugar cookie recipe I know.
Other people agree. I have to put aside a stash for my family, or risk a riot. Check this recipe and know that these cookies are not for the faint of heart. It’s takes fortitude and endurance to stand up to this kind of caloric concentration. Call it an integral part of the “I’ll Diet Tomorrow Diet.”
Peachie’s Sugar Cookies
I use a food processor for these cookies and just keep adding ingredients from start to finish.
Cream 1 Cup each of butter, sugar, and powdered sugar. See below for making your own powered sugar. *
Add 2 eggs and beat again. Now stir in one cup of salad oil, and1 teaspoon of pure vanilla.
Combine 4 ½ cups of flour with 1 teaspoon each of baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Add the flour to the egg/butter mixtures to make a dough.
Chill the dough for at least an hour.
*Don’t have powdered sugar? No prob. Put one cup of regular granulated sugar in a blender, add a teaspoon of cornstarch and blend until you have a fine powder. I use my coffee grinder instead of a blender. Faster. Finer.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and form the dough into small balls. Place the balls on a cookie sheet (you’ll need at least a couple). Faintly moisten the bottom of a drinking glass, dip it in granulated sugar, and use it to lightly press each dough ball. You’ll have to keep re-dipping the glass in sugar. Add a chocolate piece or a nut on top, or (my favorite) just leave the cookies plain.
Cook in a preheated, 350ºF oven for 12-15 minutes. When the cookies spread and turn golden, they’re done. Do not wait for them to brown. You want them to be more or less the color of butter. They will be soft when you first take them out, but will firm up as they cool. After about five minutes, use a spatula to remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and put them on a cooling rack or the kitchen counter to fully cool.
Serve hot or room temp, with coffee, tea, or cold milk.
Don’t forget to hide some before your guests arrive.
