Now That's A Good Recipe

I made the dough for Sour Cream Sugar Cookies last night and lost track of how much flour I had added. I thought it looked right, and Aaron agreed, so we called it good. When I cut and baked them this morning, I realized that the flour wasn't right when they spread a lot instead of just puffing up. I was bummed because I was baking a set of green shamrock-shaped cookies for a work party, and after the Valentines cookies I made last month were just amazing, I was looking forward to wowing my coworkers. (Maybe it's a lesson in humility?) However, while taste-test quality controlling the flour-deficient cookies, I discovered that they were almost as good as if I had made them correctly. You know you have a good recipe when you can mess up big time and still have a tasty product.

Softening Butter

Pretty much every cookie recipe I use calls for 'room temperature' or 'softened' butter. And even if I happen to be planning to bake in advance I rarely remember to get the butter out in time to self-soften.

I have discovered that 10 seconds on high in the microwave is enough to soften butter to a cream-able consistency. It's really great if the butter comes wrapped in paper (not foil) - fridge to microwave to mixing bowl, all in under a minute.

Buttermilk Cookies

Another of Aaron's grandma's recipes (and Aaron's favorite cookie)

1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
3/4 c buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 c flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, egg, and buttermilk and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Dough will be sticky. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.

These cookies store well in the freezer between layers of wax paper and taste good frozen as well.