Readers of this column often refer to me as the "cooking lady," but my friends and neighbors call me their "chef next door" because I'm their go-to girl for culinary questions. Though I enjoy sharing a new cooking method, I've also learned a thing of two from them.
In fact, my neighbor Barbara Mysona passed along her holiday sugar cookie recipe years ago, and it soon became my favorite.
Barbara's dough doesn't use butter, as many traditional sugar cookie recipes do. She uses margarine, which makes the dough particularly easy to roll out. The dough also freezes beautifully, or it can be prepared a day before rolling and baking. After the cookies are cut, scraps can be rolled again with the next batch.
A sweet almond glaze takes Barbara's sugar cookies over the top, and glazing cookies is much easier than icing them. I prepare the glaze in a shallow baking dish or pie plate and dip each cookie into the glaze. I like to divide the glaze among pie plates and add food colorings to each plate. If you'd like to add decorative sprinkles, do so just after dipping the cookies but before the glaze sets.
You can bake these cookies ahead and freeze them, then defrost and ice them when you're ready to enjoy some holiday cheer.
Reach Karin Calloway at karin.calloway@comcast.net. See her prepare the recipe at noon Tuesday on television station WJBF (Channel 6). Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/karincalloway.
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Readers shared their favorite holiday cookies.
ALMOND-GLAZED SUGAR COOKIES
For the cookies:
1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine
3 tablespoons cream or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
3 cups flour
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Set oven on convection bake to 350 degrees. (If using standard oven, set to 375 degrees.) Cream sugar and margarine together in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Add cream or milk, vanilla and egg. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well blended. Roll out as desired and bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 8 minutes. (Baking time will be about 10 minutes in a standard oven.) Cool completely before glazing.
For the glaze:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon almond extract
Food coloring:
Stir confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, water and almond extract together in a bowl. Divide among pie plates or shallow baking dishes and add food coloring as desired. Stir well. Dip the top of each cooled cookie into the glaze and place on racks, glaze-side up. Allow the glaze to dry completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.
Makes: 36 cookies
SMALL BITES
Small Bites is a listing of dining- and drinking-related events. Send your information to ryan.wehmeyer @augustachronicle.com.
ONGOING
TAKE OFF POUNDS SENSIBLY: 5:15-6:15 P.M. MONDAYS, SOCIAL AND PRIVATE WEIGH-IN, 6:30-7:30 P.M. MEETING AND MOTIVATION, St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Fellowship Hall, 2321 Lumpkin Road; nonprofit weight-loss support group; Joy Southern, (706) 737-1120, www.tops.org
Sweet Tooth: Delectable desserts
DEC. 23: Sunday Supper Suggestions for a formal meal
DEC. 30: Wild Card Something to finish the month
JAN. 6: Sunday Supper Sit-down meal favorites
JAN. 13: Lunchbox Quick food for a working lunch
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