Soft Sugar Cookies

Soft Sugar Cookies for Valentine Cut-out Cookies (from Cella's Cookbook)

Note: For best results use a floured large wooden cutting board and wooden rolling pin, flouring every few rolls, to keep dough from sticking. Use as little flour as possible to roll out dough to ensure a soft and flavorful cookie, and not be dry tasting. Always sift your flour. Do not over bake or roll dough too thin. This dough can easily be halved - use 2 eggs instead of 3. Frosting recipe follows cookie recipe.

3 large eggs

2 cups white granulated sugar

1 cup Crisco all-vegetable shortening

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

6 ½ to 7 ½ cups of SIFTED all-purpose white flour, plus additional flour for rolling dough

In a large bowl, cream together eggs, sugar, and shortening. Mix in milk, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and ONLY 3 cups of flour at this time. Stir in 3 ½ cups more flour. At this point the dough is too sticky yet to roll out. Heavily flour a cutting board and divide the dough into two parts and roll out one section at a time. Place half of the dough on the heavily floured cutting board. Add ½ cup of flour to the dough and work it in with your hands until it is nonsticky so you can roll out the dough. Flour rolling pin and roll out dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into desired shaped with a cookie cutter. Place cookies on greased cookie sheet (if you are not going to frost the cookies, sprinkle them with white sugar) and bake in 350 degree oven 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set. Repeat steps with remaining dough. This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutter used.

Frosting: Combine 1/3 cup melted butter, 2 cups confectioners sugar, dash or two of food coloring and a few tablespoons of milk (adding one tablespoon at a time) until of desired spreading consistency.