My daughter has very much enjoyed her first year in 4-H. On a last-minute whim, she entered her elementary school’s baking competition earlier this year. The Princess insisted the thing she must make was sugar cookies. I had found (and personalized because I’m just me like that) this recipe years ago in an old cookbook. So, make them she did. We add the “optional” cinnamon every single time since that’s the stuff that makes happiness happen. Sometimes, we are stingy with it. Sometimes, we are generous with it. I’m still trying to convince them to try different flavors with the extracts, but I am the sole free spirit about such things around here. I say, try all the things. They say, if you like it a certain way, why deviate? One day I will win them over to the concept that variety is the spice of life, but until then let’s make some traditional sugar cookies!
As an update on the competition, she won first place in her class! Because of her victory, she was invited to compete in the county competition. That was quite fun. And, as a mom, I found the prep for it inordinately stressful. Weird, since literally the only thing I did was buy supplies and take the hot items out of the oven. It was February, so she dubbed her theme “In Love with Baking.” It was adorable, and we were very proud. We were floored by just how seriously some kids take that competition! She didn’t win county, but like we told her, it was an honor to just make it there. And it was such a fun learning experience all about my number one girl & her discovering for herself the things that she loves to do.
2 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Butter, softened
1 ½ Cups White Sugar
1 whole Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Optional – dash of cinnamon, or top with sprinkles for theme of choice
Preheat oven to 375* F.
Stir flour, baking soda, & baking powder. Set aside.
Cream butter & sugar, add egg & vanilla.
Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
Bake 8-10 minutes, cool cookies on cookie sheet.
We generally use a 1 TBSP measuring spoon to measure the dough and give them ample breathing space on the cookie sheet. Sometimes we chill the dough, but we are often too eager to do a quality check on the batch for extra steps like that! They are simple, but they brighten the day every time.
Bethany
Journey Into Freedom 