Food on Friday: Joy to the Christmas cookies

I adore my mother-in-law. Marilyn Senter is smart, funny, beautiful and incredibly generous. I could go on and on about how much I love her, and about the amazing things she has done for us over the years (thanks again for watching our dog while we were in the Peace Corps!). But one of the things I love most about Marilyn has nothing to do with her spirit or her heart. It’s her Christmas cookies.

The wonder and the glory of these cookies cannot be understated. Years ago a feature in the Kansas City Times described the intense program Marilyn and her in-laws underwent to get cookies baked and plated for Christmas:

Back then Marilyn, her three sisters-in-law and her mother-in-law used to spent two full days churning out thousands of cookies. Chances are if you lived in Prairie Village or Mission Hills in the 80s you or someone you know received a cookie plate from the Senter family. Today Marilyn carries on the tradition with her daughter Kim (an icing expert) and me (an expert in eating the rejects).

There are many varieties of goodies, from thumbprints, to pecan tartlets, to snickerdoodles and more. But if you are lucky enough to be a cookie plate recipient, you might especially savor the melt-in-your mouth iced butter cookies. They’re just one of many varieties, but in my book, they’re the stars of the show. Shaped like stars, stockings, bells, mistletoe, and wreaths, they are as beautiful to look at as they are to taste. But even aside from Christmas, I think this is just a great standard recipe for iced sugar cookies.
Recipe’s after the jump.
From Betty Crocker’s Cookbook
Traditional Sugar Cookies
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix first four ingredients well. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill for at least an hour.

Heat oven to 400. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on lightly-floured, cloth-covered surface. Cut into shapes and bake 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool, then top with Buttercream Icing.

Buttercream Icing
Mix powdered sugar with butter (Marilyn doesn’t use vanilla extract, as it taints the white).