Granny's Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

 

Granny's Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies  (Source: Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 63.

Another holiday season, another sugar cookie recipe. These cookies are very good with an nice lemon flavor. However, I found the dough hard to work with - very sticky and requires a lot of flour to keep it manageable.  A few years ago, I made the Plain Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies and I recall that the dough was easier to work with. Still, these are quite delicious and they last a long time if kept airtight.

1 3/4 sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 oz. unsalted butter
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 TBS. lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 TBS. whipping cream

Cinnamon Sugar

1 TBS. granulated sugar
1/3 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat the butter until soft.

 

Beat in the lemon rind, juice and sugar.

 

Beat in the eggs and the whipping cream.

 

Add the flour mixture until smooth.

 

Turn the dough out onto wax paper or plastic wrap. Wrap and refrigerate overnight.

 

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil.

Cut the dough into thirds. Roll out the dough until thin (about 1/8 inch). If the dough is cold, pound it to soften up slightly. 

 

Cut out the cookies with a cookie cutter (about 3") and place them on the baking sheets about 1/2 inch apart. 

 

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the cookies.

 

Bake for 10-13 minutes. The cookies are done when they are sandy-colored and dark around the rims. Transfer to a rack to cool.