Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

Here you go!

I make you a plate of cookies filled with love.



Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! I don't get into the big spending on flowers & special fancy restaurants, but I do like to send cards, make cookies & wear pink. It's a great time to take a moment to let your family & friends know you love them.

Growing up, Mom & I would always make these cookies for Valentine's Day. If we forgot or didn't have time, they became St. Patrick's Day cookies instead, using our shamrock cutter instead of the heart one. I was in charge of sprinkling them with colored sugar.

I had to search hard for the recipe, as it came out of Mom's old, falling-apart-and-duct-taped-together Betty Crocker cookbook. I bought one of Betty's cookbooks at a rummage sale, but it's not quite as old & didn't have this recipe in it. I couldn't find it on the internet, either!

(By the way, I'm very disappointed in where Betty Crocker is heading. The website is full of recipes made from mixes & packaged items. It's hard to find anything from scratch! Mom's cookbook was the cooking standard of its time. It has recipes & instructions on doing the simple things, like making pie crusts, cakes from scratch, etc.)

Finally, I just copied it from Mom's cookbook. I guess I could've saved myself a lot of time by doing that first...

For the Bup, it was love at first bite. The next time I made them, he suggested icing them. Now we're hooked, & I'm continuing the tradition with a little extra flair!

Since this is so close to Valentine's Day, maybe you'll have to make them for St. Patty's Day! Either way, I hope you'll enjoy these cookies. We love them!

Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

Adapted from Betty Crocker
Yield: 4 dozen

1/2 c butter (to make lower in fat, substitute with 1/4 c butter + 1/4 c unsweetened applesauce)
1 egg
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 c unbleached white flour
2 c white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c sour cream (to make lower in fat, use light)
Decorations:
          colored sugar
          icing
Preheat oven to 450*F. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, egg, sugar & vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients. Add alternately with sour cream to butter mixture. Roll dough out onto a floured surface to 1/4" thick. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with colored sugar, if desired. Bake for 8-10 minutes. (Cookies may still appear pale, but do not bake for longer than 10 minutes unless you want crunchy cookies.)

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 T almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 drops red food coloring, if desired

Mix together. Add more milk if necessary, but be aware that ever drop of milk makes a huge difference. The icing should not be too runny or it will run off of the cookies. Ice cookies once they are cool.