Sugar Cookie Recipe that keeps its shape- a cookie and tree decorating party!

Sugar cookie decorating is one of our family traditions. I can remember being very tiny and thinking how beautiful our creations were. And it always made me grin to see all the teeny little colored nonpareil balls stuck firmly in the cracks of the old walnut kitchen table for months afterward!

The dough looks piece-y and lumpy when mixed

I continued the tradition with my hubby and three boys, along with my moma and pop. Now it has grown to include two daughters-in-law and my youngest son's sweetheart. 

just pull it together and press into shape with your hands, but don't knead

In past years I used a really delicious sugar cookie recipe, but it was one that spread. We would cut out a multitude of wonderful shapes and, when baked, they were indistinguishable! My pop would be squinting at a cookie and ask what it was. "It's a reindeer," I would haughtily reply, as though it were evident. "Oh," he'd nod, "I thought it was an amoeba." Sigh. Such is life when your cookies morph. 

shape into smooth ovals and chill for at least two hours

I tried lots of recipes, some maintained better than others. I even tried a Martha Stewart recipe. Yes, they kept their shape, but they were the most awful, pasty tasting things! I think they kept their shape because they tasted like they were flour mixed with wood glue. But then I found this recipe, Softest Sugar Cookies That Hold Their Shape, over at The Food Charlatan. It is tasty, due to the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, and it holds it's shape perfectly!! 

look at the flecks of butter and cream cheese- yum!

Here are some tips to help this recipe go well. I added extra vanilla to replace the almond extract. That doesn't make it better, just an idea if you don't care for almond extract. (I just can't like it. Not even the smell!) And I do not roll the dough out to her thickness. They were wet and gummy inside like raw dough if I did. I simply rolled them to a normal sugar cookie thickness and they were perfect. Cover your sheets with parchment paper. The cookies are soft and you don't want to tear them when you remove them. As you cut and fill each cookie sheet, pop it into the fridge to stay cold. This helps them keep their shape. I put three sheets in the oven at a time and took them out when the edges on some of the cookies started to take a golden tone. They all cook at different times, so keep an eye on them. Don't brown the edges! I cooked them for about 8 minutes.  Let the cookies sit on the parchment paper on wire racks to cool and they will be soft and chewy.

my "Andrea" apron!

You can frost them however you like, I just make a batch of the same buttercream frosting that I use for cakes, and divide and color it. I always do the regular primary colors, and then brown. We need lots of colors because our cookies aren't regulated to the norm, not that you would ever expect that of my family. We have buffalo, crocodiles, seahorses, pigs, just about any kind of cutter that caught our eyes as the boy grew. 

And SPRINKLES!!! Yes, I am a sprinkle collector like I am a glitter collector. Basically the same thing except one is edible. I have every color, shape, and size of sugar, nonpareil, and sprinkle. It makes it so much fun. And then there is the vat of frosting tubes. I personally think it tastes pretty vile, but the kids love them for adding fancy details. 

On this night I made supper and then we took a family photo for the Christmas card. I am not happy about getting my picture taken, but my family is the pits! I only ask for one serious photo a year, and it is like pulling hen's teeth to get it. We took five pictures and I thought I was going to have to beat some folks (hubby, mainly) to get one decent picture with everyone's eyes open, no "rabbit ears", and at least a semi-grimace on their face. Sheesh!

my three boys, Devin, Will, and Seth...oh how I love these guys!

Earlier I had gotten the Christmas tree upright up in the stand (not easy doing that with an 8 footer on your own). I got it screwed in mostly straight, trimmed it, hauled it into the house, and then swept up what looked like an exploded evergreen forest that followed my path. Then I strung the lights and beads so it would be all ready for us to decorate that night. My pop likes to be in on the tree decorating because almost all the ornaments are from his childhood in the late 40's. He'll take one out to hand to someone and say, "Now, that's an oldie. I remember that on the tree when I was just tiny."

Pop perusing his childhood ornaments

I love our tree every single year. The tree used to be enormous, the biggest I could cut and haul in myself. But now that boys have moved out and are taking the ornaments they got each year, the size of the tree has dwindled accordingly. But to me, it is still radiant. And I situate it to where it is what I see when I look through the pass-through window over my kitchen sink. What a cheery sight!

so much sparkle happiness!

Some of my favorite vintage decorations

After the tree had the finishing touch of my youngest, Will, giving his flourishes of tinsel (he used to throw it on in enthusiastic handfuls when he was small ;), we were ready to decorate - AND EAT- cookies.

I love this picture so much! Most of my family pics are blurry actions shots. But we are always joking, acting up, and everyone talking at once, so I think these pictures are the best...

 We all get into the spirit, usually eating as many as we decorate. Some folks get really artistic. Below is Will's buck-toothed hillbilly gingerbread man. Note the chest hair!

 Here is a bloodthirsty, red-eyed croc eating a hapless little duck...

 Here is my daughter-in-law, Savannah, with her gingerbread voodoo doll with a toothpick piercing it's little heart...you just have to laugh!

The cookies I make for myself to eat are never made pretty, they are coated with red hots. Something about the combination of sugar cookie, frosting, sprinkles, and red hots makes me eat them till I'm sick. Here is my personal sack that I put back for my breakfast. Nothing like some straight sugar and cinnamon-y goodness to start the day right!

What traditions do you share with your family? We have ones that are both sacred (the reading of the Christmas story by candlelight each Christmas Eve), and silly (making really terrible sugar cookies). I'd love to hear what you do to celebrate as the holiday approaches.

I know the season is still young, but just in case you haven't been kissed beneath the mistletoe yet, consider this a great, big, juicy smooch from me to you! May your Christmas season be merry and bright and you look forward to Christ's birth with the joy of a child.