Soft White Christmas Cookies

Hi there! Forgive me for two recipe posts in a row, but I've been wanting to share a few with you, and I finally have the chance to do a little catch up on the blog! Trust me, you won't be mad once you try these cookies. :) Also, in case you're interested, I recently updated my "Cookin' in the Kitchen" tab in my blog so that when you click on it, you're taken to the links of all the recipes I've posted. Much easier than digging through old posts! Anyway, I don't know if you are all lucky enough to have a recipe that's been a part of your family for as long as you can remember, but I am, and the recipe is for these delicious, soft, amazingly tasty cookies. They are from this old, rickety cookbook that I think my mom got through the church many, many years ago, and I have always loved them more than should be humanly possible. They're dubbed as Christmas cookies, but they really could be made any time of year, somewhat similar to cut-out sugar cookies. Not gonna lie, while I put my life at risk by doing it every damn time, I cannot resist eating little scraps of the dough as I make the cut-outs. But folks, it's a risk I'm willing to take for how good it is. I'm semi-kidding, but I do love it, and in case you were worried, I didn't do it much this time since L was watching and didn't want me to get sick. That's probably a good thing, I guess. ;) Feels kinda weird posting these after the holidays since mine were very festively decorated, but again, you can make them whenever your heart desires!

 The ingredients!

 Mix all the ingredients together and you'll get this lovely dough! Chill it, and you can roll it out!

 Flour the counter (very well, the dough is sticky) and roll it out! This is only a small ball of dough. I probably did this process about 8-10 times for LOTS of cookies! (L also decided it was a good idea to make a couple cookies in the shape of certain body parts, but I chose to leave them out for your benefit;).

 Bake for 11-15 minutes at 325. Don't overdo it or they'll get hard!

 Get ready to frost these these bad boys!

 

Voila!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 5 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

• Mix all the ingredients in the order they are listed in a big bowl. (I used an electric mixer, but it got pretty clogged since the dough is quite sticky. Not sure what the best option is, but the mixer did essentially do the job. Just gotta clean of the beaters!)
• Chill the dough. (I chilled it for a couple hours, but it probably doesn't need that long.)
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Roll out dough on a well-floured surface. Can't emphasize this enough. As mentioned, the dough is very sticky, so much so that I had to call my mom and ask if that was normal. :) Turns out it is, and you just need to flour the counter and your hands, and if it sticks to the rolling pin, just add more flour. You get used it it, I promise!
• Cut dough into desired shapes and place them on a cookie sheet.
• Bake cookies for 11-15 minutes. (I cooked them on the lower end. I prefer my cookies to be soft, so I left them in for about 10-11 minutes and they were perfect.)
• Let the cookies cool.
• Frost and decorate the cookies. Have fun!

Just a note... The recipe didn't share how many cookies this yields, but I had quite a few. Probably 50-60 cookies or so, so you probably want to have a gathering or be very hungry for cookies for a week or two after you make them! ;) I actually still have some, and they're surprisingly still good! I really hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Maybe they can become part of your tradition!