Holiday Cut Out Cookies

Are you ready for a recipe I actually like? I HOPE SO because you are about to get one.

Josh's mom makes the world's best cookies. I say this as someone who doesn't much like cookies. But Ginny's Christmas Cookies (A.K.A. Holiday Cut Out Cookies) are the best. She only makes them for Christmas (likely because they have about 45 tons of butter in them), at which point none of us can stop from gorging on them. They seem innocent enough, but they have an addictive quality that should not be underestimated.

As such, you can imagine I was delighted to find the recipe in my book. Also as such, you can imagine that this is one of the ones I have already made so I know it turns out well. I also know that because it is a cut-out cookie that it involves a certain amount of time and effort (rolling, cutting, rolling, cutting) I am loathe to do them a lot (which, I suspect, is another reason these cookies only rear their heads once a year for Ginny, as well).

I made them last winter in an effort to get myself in the Christmas spirit. I also hung the Christmas lights, played the Charlie Brown Christmas Album, put a sleigh bell collar on the dog and the dog's antler headband on myself. I imagine Josh was rather surprised when he came home that day. But that was before the Recipe Book Project, so obviously I had to make them again.

This time I decided to make them as a host gift for Andrea & John, who will be putting us up for the next couple of days while we descend upon Chicago for my old roommate Matt's wedding. Yes, that's right Andrea & John, now you know what you're getting. Tough titties on breaking the surprise--you'll love them, so you can deal.

ANYHOW, having made the cookies before, I wasn't going to have such a hard time making them. I decided to up the challenge factor by drinking a ton of wine at dinner to make sure I was half cocked while I baked. I find that always helps. Or that you drop shit constantly and the dog is getting tons of raw cookie dough. One or the other. At least I didn't burn myself this time.

I also put in extra butter on top of the aforementioned 20 tons of it, because I remember Ginny's versions coming out butterier than mine. But somehow the extra 2 tbsps I threw in still didn't make them a match for Ginny's. Not that they're not good - they are quite good - but I think Ginny puts in some magic or something that I don't know about.

I thought I photoshopped this picture so you

couldn't see how dirty my counter was. Maybe not.

Ginny's Addictive Holiday Cut Out Christmas Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp water
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (kosher!)

Cream together butter & sugar & vanilla. Add egg & water. Beat well. Mix together dry ingredients and add to cookie mixture. Mix well.

Fight serious, serious urge to say 'Screw It' and eat all the cookie dough. This is DAMN good cookie dough.*

Divide dough into half and chill 1 hour. Or, several hours because you go eat dinner and forget thanks to the crappy wine you were drinking. Wonder why you are supposed to divide dough in half. Find yourself incapable of coming up with an answer.

Eat dinner, watch TV, drink more wine, and realize you forgot about the dough. Come upstairs to find the dough entirely too brick-like to be funtional. Decide to microwave it for about 20 seconds to loosen it up. Drink more wine. Hope microwaving the dough doesn't cook it. Breathe sigh of relief when it comes out appropriately pliable and uncooked.

Roll out, and discover that no matter how much flour you put on the rolling pin the dough is kind of petulantly sticky. Blame this on the microwaving.

Cut into shapes. Sprinkle on colored sugar. Try not to mangle shapes as you put onto baking pans.

Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 for 8-10 minutes.** Cool on pan (2 minutes). Remove to rack to cool more.

Eat. Eat more. Eat more. Gain 34 pounds. Eat more. YUM.

Makes 4 dozen.

Ginny note: You can brush cookies with a little milk before sprinkling on sugar to help it stick.

Heather note: I forgot this.

*Eat raw cookie dough? How can this be? You are deathly afraid of e coli from meat and chicken, Heather! Ah yes, this is true. But somehow, I am completely, brazenly, unabashedly unafraid of salmonella from eggs. I always recommend being selective in which bacteria to have unreasonable fears of.

**What Ginny isn't telling you: She happens to like to do these cookies well done. I think she is right - these guys aren't soft, so a smidge browner is better.