Basic Sugar Cookie Dough
1/2 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/4 Cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond or lemon extract
2 1/2 Cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
In mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, eggs, and extracts. Blend together. In separate large bowl, add flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Add to creamed mixture and blend together. Form into a ball and chill 2 hours. Roll dough out on floured surface and cut out with desired cookie cutters. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

Simple Sugar Cookie Recipe
One box of white cake mix
1/2 Cup shortening
1/3 Cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond or lemon extract
1 egg
In mixing bowl blend together cake mix, shortening, butter, extract and egg. Form into a ball. If the dough is too sticky to roll out, chill for 30 minutes. Roll dough onto floured surface and cut out with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

Brown Sugar and Spice Cut Out Cookies
½ Cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Cups flour
1 Cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg or ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheets. Cream sugar and butter together in mixing bowl. Add egg and vanilla and blend together. Stir dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Roll out dough and cut out with cookie cutters. Bake 12-15 minutes.


Kid's Cookie Decorating Party Idea
Have your kids invite friends over to decorate cut out cookies and have fun creating together. Here are some tips.

• Make the cookies and the frosting ahead of time so everything is ready to go the day of the party.



• Have several colors of frosting, plastic knives, a variety of sprinkles and a flat shirt box for each child to bring their cookies home in.(or use two paper plates stapled together)



• Instead of knives you could try new, clean paintbrushes for frosting cookies.



• Other candy decorations may include licorice ropes, cinnamon candies, lemon drops, gumdrops, mini marshmallows, chocolate candies or jelly beans.

Let the kids be creative and enjoy this holiday tradition.



Jam Filled Wreaths
1 Cup butter or margarine
2/3 Cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Cups flour
Powdered sugar for dusting the top
1/4 Cup red jam of choice
In a mixing bowl cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir in flour. Roll into ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours. Then roll out on floured surface. Cut out with round cookie cutters. Each cookie will have two parts to it. For half the cookies cut out a small circle in the middle with a bottle cap or small round cookie cutter.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool. Dust the top cookies (the ones with holes in the centers with powdered sugar.) On the bottom cookies spread jam over the top and place a powdered sugar cookie wreath on the top so the jam will be seen through the hole.