Soft Sugar Cookies

Since we´re leaving for vacation on Monday morning this year, this will be my one and only contribution to the christmas baking frenzy this year. It is not the first christmas we´ll be spending abroad, but the first one we will be spending under palm trees, in Thailand, to be exact. Exiting!!!

Anyhows, let´s get back to business. Last year´s vacation was to Logan, Utah, U.S.A., and since my second mum, Mrs. B., knows how much I am into cooking stuff, she took me to one of the nicest kitchen stores I´ve ever seen. And of course, I couldn´t leave withouth buying THIS:


A cookie mold. Americans will shake their heads in disbelieve, but this is a never-before-seen for a European like me. I have NEVER ever seen such a cookie mold before. No question I had to buy it. But, it took me a whole year (!) to try it out. Shame on me, I know, but it´s never too late, right? So off I went, and the result was truly rewarding:


I was a little disappointed that the designs didn´t stick out as much as I had imagined - but hey, modern women are inventive and flexible. So I grabbed the food colouring, and got a little artsy myself.


I like the teddy bear best. But actually, the lone fact that I can make perfectly shaped cookies with this mold without any work other than pressing the dough into the molds makes me happy.
I bet I will have to lend the mold to all the mums in my circle of friends as soon as I tell them about this ;)


Adorably cute, eh? I love them. And the dough is easy as 1-2-3: butter, flour, sugar, 1 egg. Everything else is optional. Does it get any easier than that? I don´t think so.
And because of that, I want to share this recipe with all the folks from the "Eat Christmas Cookies" Event over @ FoodBlogga: how to participate and the RoundUp.

Recipe for Soft Sugar Cookies


Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 3/4 cup flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 200° C. No convection!
2. Grease mold lights, ideally with cooking spray.
3. Whip butter and sugar until well blended.
4. Add flour, salt and vanilla essence, and knead until smooth.
5. Press dough into molds, about 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 9-10 minutes until golden.
7. Remove from the oven, let cool in the mold for 5 minutes.
8. Turn over and let cool cookies completely on a rack.
9. Decorate (if desired).

Guten Appetit! Enjoy your meal! Bon Appétit!