Betty Crocker's Cooky Book: Mary's Sugar Cookies

Mary’s Sugar Cookies

This recipe, found in the early pages of Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book, is the ultimate melt in your mouth sugar cookie recipe. This recipe is extremely versatile with endless possibilities. They are sweet, light, and fluffy and a perfect addition to any holiday given the unlimited potential of shapes this dough can take on.

Mary’s Sugar Cookies:

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. almond flavoring

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

All of the ingredients are mixed in order from top to bottom.

There are two secrets that separate this sugar cookie recipe from the rest. Mary’s sugar cookies do not use gritty granulated sugar but rather the sweet smooth alternative of powdered sugar. The recipe also calls for equal parts cream of tartar and baking soda instead of the 2:1 ratio found in baking powder. This is to compensate for the texture change in our sugar.

The result is a sweet vanilla smell with a melt in your mouth taste that can not be matched by any recipe with granulated sugar. Depending on your sweet tooth these can be paired with or without frosting. I find vanilla frosting with festive sprinkles to be a perfect addition. This is how one of our Halloween themed cookies turned out, lovingly decorated by my four year old niece.

This delectable sugar cookie recipe can be tinted, frosted and sprinkled to fit in with any holiday celebration. They can be cut thick for a soft and airy texture or rolled thin for a crisp crunch. No matter how you remember your favorite sugar cookie, this sweet soft recipe is sure to deliver.