by Lorelei Cohen

Created on: January 14, 2009

There are two sugar cookie recipes that reside within the pages of my somewhat battered looking old cook book. The first is a Soft sugar cookie recipe, which produces exactly what it says it will, nice soft, almost cake-like Sugar cookies. The second is a recipe for Hard sugar cookies, and these are a little thinner, a little crispier, but with all the same great taste as the Soft sugar cookies have. Both types of Sugar cookie dough can be cut into any variety of shapes, and when the cookies are cooled, both the soft and the hard variety can easily be iced with your favorite frosting mix. Only your family can decide which cookie recipe produces the best sugar cookies; they'll be the ones that disappear the quickest.

Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add in baking soda, baking powder and flour.

3. Roll teaspoonfulls of dough into balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake for eight to ten minutes. Leave to cool a for a couple minutes on cookie tray before removing.

Hard Sugar Cookies Recipe

1 1/2 cups softened butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1. In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar until smooth

2. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Then mix in the flour, baking and salt.

3. Cover bowl and chill dough for at least one hour before using.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5.Roll out dough on a floured surface to between one quarter and one half inch in thickness.

6. Use cookie cutter to cut into dough into cookie shapes. Place cookies one inch apart on greased cookie pans.

7. Bake six to eight minutes. Cool cookies before decorating with icing.

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