Holiday Sugar Cookies

This recipe comes to us from the home of Jill Brockman-Cummings, Manager of Janie's Mill, whose family has made these cookies every holiday season for generations. Silky Smooth Pastry flour makes these cookies the perfect light and crispy canvas for cookie decorating with family and friends over the holidays. The original recipe uses half butter and half lard for an extra melt-in-your-mouth quality, but an all-butter version of this recipe is just as delectable! 

Yield: about 30 cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutters)

Total Time: 1 hour (plus overnight chilling)

Ingredients

• ½ cup (1 stick or 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup (113 g) lard, room temperature
  • If you'd like to keep these cookies vegetarian, substitute additional unsalted butter for the lard. 
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (240 g) Janie's Mill Silky Smooth Pastry Flour or All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• sprinkles for decorating

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, cream the butter, lard (if using), and granulated sugar until lightened in color and fluffy. 
2. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until evenly combined. 
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
4. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture and mix gently by hand until all the flour is hydrated and you have a uniform dough. 
5. Portion the dough into two discs and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, preferably overnight, to allow the flour to hydrate and make rolling out and shaping easier. 
6. Preheat the oven to 350F. Use a rolling pin to roll out one disc of dough at a time on a well floured surface. Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness, lifting and moving the dough frequently to prevent sticking.
7. Cut the dough into shapes using cookie cutters and arrange your cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Decorate with your desired sprinkles.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack. Cookies will remain fresh and crisp in an airtight container for 1 week!

Jill's much-loved recipe card.