This is the recipe — originally borrowed from the Betty Crocker Cookie Book — Phyllis Siebert uses to make the Christmas cookies that Blaine House sends to the 1,000 Augusta-area Head Start children each year. She multiplies the recipe as needed in several big batches; then, as time permits, bakes up what she can. Another staff member decorates the cookies, after which they are hidden so that the staff and who knows, maybe even the governor — can’t find them before Christmas.
This recipe for Ethel’s Sugar Cookies was first published in the November 1984 issue of Yankee Magazine.
Yield:
Makes about 4 dozen.Ingredients
3/4 cup shortening (part butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring or 1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cream shortening and sugar; beat in eggs and flavoring. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, and blend into egg mixture. Chill dough for at least 1 hour. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a floured board. Cut into desired shapes and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes at 400 degrees F, until cookies are a delicate golden color.
