Grandma's Soft Sugar Cookies

Grandma's Soft Sugar Cookies
Dorcas Annette Walker

I can remember when there wasn't any play dough except the kind your mother cooked up and colored with food coloring. In the summer a mixture of dirt and water made a lovely mud batter, different sized tin cans were bowls, and sticks made a perfect spoon. My sister and I would spend an entire afternoon in our bakery whipping up all kinds of cookies- small rocks were used for chocolate chips- carefully spreading rows of cookies on a long board to bake in the sun. No matter how hard we tried or how pretty we decorated our cookies with wild flowers, we never could convince our brother to sample one of our treats. I'll never forget the Christmas I received a store-bought set of play dough in colorful cans with matching plastic lids. My imagination went into overdrive with the lovely soft dough of bright colors. I would carefully put the play dough back into the cans after each use in order to keep it nice and soft. That set of play dough gave my sister and me years of pleasure.

When my daughter was still a toddler, I bought her play dough and set about to initiate her into the joys of pretend baking with play dough. Her set of play dough didn't get much use and before long completely dried out as every time I was in the kitchen baking, which was at least once a week, my daughter would perch her sturdy little body on a chair and beg to have a chance to stir. It seems like yesterday watching my young daughter carefully and with great concentration place Christmas cookies on a tray to bake and then sprinkle them with colored sugar. Invariably there were some unusual shaped stars and camels with only three legs, which make great sampling and wonderful memories. Today my daughter is grown and has a daughter of her own that loves to help in the kitchen.

This week instead of the rolled-out shaped Christmas sugar cookies that you sprinkle with colored sugar, I'm giving you an old recipe of soft sugar cookies where the batter is dropped by spoon, is easier, and faster to make. My Grandma's Soft Sugar Cookies are usually sprinkled with round candy sprinkles, but colored sugar can be substituted. Preparation time for my Grandma's Soft Sugar Cookies is only fifteen minutes- not counting baking time. For smaller cookies use a teaspoon. This recipe makes large hand-size four-and-one-half dozen Grandma's Soft Sugar Cookies.

Grandma's Soft Sugar Cookies

2 c sugar
3/4 c shortening
2 eggs
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 c self-rising flour

Cream sugar, shortening, and eggs together. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour until completely mixed. Drop batter by tablespoon on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for ten minutes until lightly browned. Cool and then store in an air-tight container!

Weekly tip: Place a slice of bread with your stored baked cookies to help keep your cookies soft and fresh tasting!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannetttewalker.com