Cookies, Anyone?

This...
... is all that's left of 5 dozen sugar cookies I made yesterday! Can anyone say, "breakfast, lunch and dinner???"

It snowed yesterday and while we waited for the snow to pile up a little more, I told the girls we could make sugar cookies. After the girls played out in the snow and warmed up with a cup of hot chocolate, we made sugar cookies and Oldest helped me decorate. Middle konked out from all that playing and we put her to bed after she fell asleep at the dinner table. Aww! Youngest helped licked the spoon!

I have been using this recipe for years and it is SO good! Here it is:

Sugar Cookies:

1 1/2 c sugar
1 c butter, softened
2 eggs
3 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400*. In large mixer bowl combine sugar, butter and eggs. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes). Reduce speed to low and add remaining ingredients. Continue beating until well mixed. Shape dough into 1 teaspoon rounded balls and you can roll in different mixtures, OR you can cheat like I do and use a small teaspoon sized ice cream scoop and plop them on the pan then flatten and sprinkle mixtures on top. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

For cinnamon sugar cookies: Roll balls in a mixture of 2 tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon, OR cheat and sprinkle it on top after flattening the balls.

Cherry chocolate cookies: By hand, stir in 1/4 c chopped chocolate, place 1 teaspoon size round ball on baking sheet and place 1 half of a drained maraschino cherry on top.

Sprinkles: Flatten balls on baking sheet and sprinkle or you can roll rounded balls in a bowl of sprinkles.

Spice candies or nuts: Place balls on cookie sheets and press 1 gumdrop or whole nut in the center.

Use your imagination! Easy cookie dough recipe, endless ways to gussy it up and personalize these cookies! My girls were asking for another cookie just about every 10 minutes and then I finally got smart and hid them-- Out of sight, out of mind. Too bad I couldn't hide them from myself, too! I know those elastic waist pants are around here somewhere...