Sugar Cookies

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* Exported from MasterCook *

 

Sugar Cookies ( " Tea Cakes " )

 

Recipe By :Sandra Crook, Jacksonville FL, Gourmet, May 2000

Serving Size : 42 Preparation Time :0:20

Categories :

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

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2 1/2 cups self-rising white lily or cake flour

1 cup unsalted butter -- softened

5 1/2 cups sugar

1 large egg -- lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

" My fondest memories of growing up in the South are of times spent with my

Alabama grandmother, Gorda Dyson, " says Sandra Crook of

Jacksonville, Florida. " In the afternoon we would retire to the front porch, sip

iced tea, and eat traditional English biscuits,

which we called tea cakes. She would tell me stories of her youth, and I felt so

grown-up and special. I hope you enjoy the recipe. "

 

Sandra Crook serves her tea cakes warm, when they're nice and chewy, with jam or

with strawberries and cream. When cooled and left

unadorned, they become crisp and buttery sugar cookies. She uses the

southerner's favorite flour, White Lily, which gives the tea

cakes a wonderful crispness, but we also had good results when we tested the

recipe with cake flour (self-rising).

 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

 

Put flour in a bowl and make a well in center. Beat together butter and sugar in

another bowl with an electric mixer until light and

fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla until blended.

 

Add butter mixture to flour and rub it into flour with your fingertips just

until dough comes together in a ball (do not overwork

dough, or it will be tough). 3Halve dough and work with 1 half at a time. Roll

out dough 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface with a

lightly floured rolling pin. Cut out cookies with a floured cutter (we used a 2

1/2-inch fluted round cutter), arranging cookies, as

cut, 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Reroll scraps once, using as

little flour as possible, and cut out more cookies.

 

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, in middle of oven until very pale golden, 12 to

15 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 1 minute, then

transfer to a rack to cool 5 minutes if serving warm, or to cool completely.

 

Cooks' notes: If your kitchen is very warm, you may need to chill dough to keep

it from sticking to work surface.

 

Cookies keep in an airtight container 1 week.

 

Source:

" Gourmet, May 2000 "

Start to Finish Time:

" 0:50 "

 

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Per serving: 142 Calories (kcal); 4g Total Fat; (27% calories from fat); trace

Protein; 26g Carbohydrate; 16mg Cholesterol; 2mg

Sodium

Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat; 2

Other Carbohydrates