When I was a kid, my dad had a music production and distribution company. One of his business partners was a woman named Eleanor and every year she would have a holiday cookie baking and decorating party. My sister and I would go over to her house some Saturday afternoon in early December and join Eleanor's kids around her dining room table, rolling, cutting and decorating our weight in cookies (we also ate quite a few).

It's been nearly twenty years since I made cookies with them, but I still have fond memories of those Saturday afternoons in early December. I also have very fond feelings towards this recipe, because it is tasty and fool-proof. Like the gingerbread recipe I posted yesterday, this dough keeps in the fridge for up to a week, so you can mix up a big batch and bake them off through the holidays. This is also another one that you can either decorate prior to baking or frost with a simple powdered sugar frosting after they've baked (which is what I did in the picture above). Eleanor's Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)
3 tablespoons milk or cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt


Cream the sugar and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer. When they are fluffy, add the milk and vanilla and beat until combined. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients in batches, mixing until combined. If you want to make colored cookies, you can add food coloring at this point, although I've found that it's best to knead that in by hand as the dough has gotten very stiff by this point.

When dough is sufficiently colored, form into a disc and chill for at least two hours (or up to a week).

Bake a 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes (depending on the size and thickness of your cookies).