These delicious cookies can only improve with decoration. If you have creative hands in the household, give them free rein. My mom would have taken a paint brush especially saved for pastries, and painted a team logo on the frosting. My sister Carolyn would use gumdrops and candy pieces to add the design. I wanted to try mixing colors in butter cream frosting to see what type of affect it would have on the cookies. It can be summed up in one slang word we all understand: Yum.
Vanilla refrigerator cookies
This is a kid-friendly recipe; they should be encouraged to help. Because the dough has to sit in the refrigerator for at least four hours before it is ready to slice and bake, it helps teach the valuable lesson, “Good things come to those who wait.”
You will need a large mixing bowl, a measuring cup (for one cup), and a teaspoon and half-teaspoon measuring spoon. Also you must have a large ungreased cookie sheet and 3 pieces of waxed paper, each 8 inches long.
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 ½ tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
Directions
Mix sugar, margarine, vanilla and eggs. Mix in remaining ingredients. Divide dough into three equal segments. Shape each part into a roll about 1½ inches in diameter and approximately seven inches long. Wrap in waxed paper; refrigerate for at least four hours. The dough can remain refrigerated up to six weeks.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the roll into 1/8 inch slices. Spread the slices out on the ungreased cookie sheet. The cookies will spread out while baking, so leave about an inch gap on all sides between cookies. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Immediately remove from the cookie sheet. I let mine cool on waxed paper or paper towels. Each roll makes about two dozen cookies.
Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup softened butter or margarine
1 ½ tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk, cream, or half-and-half
finely ground orange or lemon peel, if desired.
Food coloring for the frosting
Mix the powdered sugar and butter/margarine till combined. Stir in the vanilla, milk, and peel. Beat until smooth and ready to spread. This will take care of several dozen cookies. Split the frosting into several bowls if you are going to tint different colors, and design your colors.
If you want to paint the lines on your basketball, use a fine brush and straight food coloring. I made my lines using a green-covered tie for a plastic bag from the grocery store. If you have a pastry bag, that is also another option. The most important thing is to have fun.
Sources:
Cookie recipe from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook
Frosting recipe has been handed down from generation to generation
