When it came to my Granny’s cooking, all of us had our “favorite” things that she would make. For a few of us, it was her Butter Cookies. The best part about making these is getting to use the fun cookie press. This was my favorite part (besides eating them) and it took many tries and lots of patience on Granny’s part but I finally got the hang of it.
I could never guess how many batches she made in her lifetime. She used to make them all the time, and even packed them up and shipped them off to my cousin in California once because he just “had” to have them. When I was in my first year of teaching, Granny and Grandpa came to visit my classroom. The kids (or I) could have never guessed that Granny would come with a giant can of these for the whole class. They are very simple but very good. Not too sweet and not too filling! I could eat a whole can by myself…..and back in the day Granny would let me, and never tell Mom!
Butter Cookies
What you Need:
1 stick butter (Don’t even look at the margarine!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon almond extract (but I like a little more)
3 Tablespoons cream, half and half, or milk
Sprinkles, any kind or color
At least One Little Helper to stand on a chair at the counter, any age
How to make them:
Cream the butter, sugar, and egg yolk together using your electric mixer until good and fluffy. Combine baking powder, salt, and flour. Add this to the butter mixture and mix well. Add almond extract and up to 3 T milk as needed to get the consistency right. You need it to be about as stiff as mashed potatoes.
Put the dough into a cookie press; the pattern we always used is flat on the bottom and zig-zag on top (see photo to the right). Press out cookies onto cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray into lengths about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. Decorate with sprinkles if you want, but they are just as good plain.
Bake at 350 degrees until the edges are light golden brown.
Looks like a fun family project with quite the yummy results. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I bet Zoe would love to use the cookie press