A Christmas Cottage Kitchen

Sooooo.… has the season’s HO! HO! HO! hit ya yet?

If not, no worries because today I’m baking up some sugar cookies for you! a sweet spirit lifter

so come along inside with me and we’ll share in some chat time because it’s chilly outside! seriously

I’ve always enjoyed creating a beautiful  home especially during the holidays and in some ways decorating comes too easily for me especially during the holidays.

It’s like my OCD orange county decorating whimsical self elf has it’s batteries fully charged.

In the past while still living in California I’d often begin decorating right after Halloween seriously OCD back then  read a cute story about furry kids photo shoot

since I enjoyed the process, and our home was much larger than where I live now.

I’d sometimes have  as many as 8-10 trees to decorate, 20 strands of lights to put up, a zillion ornaments to hang

geezers I’m exhausted just thinking about it and all the other details   click here to read more about my ocd behaviors that I felt needed to get done to have jolly holly Christmas.

Now that life is much simpler HO! HO! HO! ha! ha! ha!

I get to enjoy the season doing those things

that bring me the most joy with less effort and decorating.

You might even say that living on the Oregon coast has made me hungry all the time!

really changed how I want to experience everything in life.

And, even though this sweet cottage kitchen is but a fraction of the previous one in California,

this particular room has always symbolized the heart of home for me.

It’s where I get fed spiritually, soulfully  and lots of yummy sugar cookies conveys love with a warm cozy feel. A perfect welcome for friends. like you

Here’s a simple recipe for sugar cookies. I think you will enjoy it!

Ingredients

3 cups flour (do not firmly pack)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Prep: Before you begin baking, let your butter and egg sit on your counter, but you don’t want to over soften the butter. Just in case you forget, just chop it up into little pieces and never heat it in the microwave.

Step 1. Whisk the baking powder and flour together

Step 2. Using your mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Once it’s mixed, you can now add the egg. Mix again and lastly, add the vanilla.

Step 3. Now that you have that done, you can add your flour mixture about a cup at a time. Mix it until it clumps together into a dough.

Step 4. Knead the dough with your hands until it’s nice and smooth. Roll it, then wrap it up with cling or plastic wrap then store in your fridge to chill for about 20 minutes or so. It should be firm but not hard. If it gets too hard, let it sit or you can also knead it a tad with your hands to help soften it up. I sometimes break it in two and knead each ball until they soften.

Step 5. Now time to preheat the oven. It should be in 350. Grab a large cookie sheet & line it with parchment paper or you can alternatively use baking mats too.

Step 6. Roll out the dough. I like to lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper (bottom) and wax paper (top) or you can use two sheets of the same. Rolling the dough between the papers keeps the dough very smooth, preventing marks from the rolling pin & not sticking.

Step 7. Now for the fun part! Cookie cutting! I used a Christmas stocking cutter. I need to get more cookie cutters The cookies will usually stay right in the dough where you cut them. Once you’re done cutting all the cookies, tear away the excess dough & transfer them onto the cookie sheet.

Step 8. Now place the cookie sheet (with cut out cookies) into the freezer for about 2-4 minutes. This helps the cookies keep their shape.  Once chilled pop them in the oven for 7 minutes. If you like your cookies soft pull them out right when you notice the very “moist look” of the dough is gone on top or if you notice the bottom turning golden brown.

Step 9. After removing them from the oven, let them sit in the warm pan for a minute or two. This gives them a minute to firm up & they actually bake a little more. Carefully grab the edges of the parchment paper & slide them off onto wire cooking rack. I have had more luck when pulling them off while they are still on the parchment paper. Using a spatula can squish or even break them.

Step 10. At this point you will be tempted to taste a few or eat them all  however don’t forget to use glitter sugar for extra yummy & sparkle.