Awesome Sour Cream Sugar Cookies With Homemade Icing

Submitted by Kay14

"This recipe was passed down through the generations from my Great Grandmother. It has been a tradition in our family to make them every Christmas and it becomes an all-day event where we make cookies all morning and decorate them all afternoon. The recipe is pretty simple and the most time-consuming part of the process is decorating, especially when you're in my family and it becomes an artistic competition!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 12mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Yields: 7 dozen

ingredients

• 12 1⁄4 cups flour
• 1 3⁄4 cups butter
• 3 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 1 3⁄4 cups sour cream
• 1 3⁄4 teaspoons salt
• 3 1⁄2 egg
• 3 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (56 ounce) bag powdered sugar (equivalent of 2 boxes)
• 1 3⁄4 cups butter (do not use margarine)
• 3 1⁄2 tablespoons almond extract
• 0.5 (42 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 3 1⁄2 to taste food coloring
• 3 1⁄2 to taste candy sprinkles

directions

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in bowl and set aside.
2. Cream butter sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes.
3. Add sour cream and beat well.
4. Add dry ingredient mix (flour, baking soda, and salt) and blend well.
5. Roll on floured board to desired thickness. (1/4 inch thick will create thick cookies that will stay moist for up to two weeks).
6. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.
7. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 325°F for 12 minutes.
8. Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
9. Pour bag of confectioner sugar into bowl.
10. Whisk the 1 stick butter (melted), 1 tbsp almond extract, and 1/2 can evaporated milk in separate bowl until well mixed.
11. Slowly blend into the powered sugar a bit at a time until the icing is a good consistency for decorating. Will not take the entire mixture.
12. Pour icing into smaller bowls and use food coloring to make icing into different colors.
13. Decorate with icing as desired.
14. Use remaining butter, almond, evap.milk mixture to freshen up the icing as it hardens over time. Re-heat the mixture in the microwave before adding to the icing. Add to the icing a few drops at a time until the icing becomes spreadable again. You may have to add more food coloring to freshen up the color.
15. Use sprinkles, candy, and a lot of imagination to decorate cookies.
16. Lay decorated cookies on wax paper to dry, it will take icing about 2 hours to firm onto cookie but once dry you can store them in an airtight container.

Reviews

[kimberlypod]

This is the iced sugar cookie recipe that I've been looking for. The cookies are thick, soft, and substantial enough to hold up to icing. The icing is sweet, buttery, and hardens so that you can package the cookies away without messing them up.

 

[ALC]

These are SO FABULOUS! It's the perfect amount of "sweetness" for me. I don't eat a lot of sweets and I could not stop eating these. Yummy!

 

[Teri A.]

Not crazy about the cookie - just not a lot of flavor, in my opinion. Very difficult to get the dry ingredients incorporated evenly. Probably won't use the recipe again.

 

[kryn.barrie]

Absolutely fantastic, hands down the best "Christmas sugar cookie" I have ever had. Wonderfully soft, just the right amount of sweetness, and the almond flavoring in the frosting is the perfect compliment.

 

[Jillbeaner]

not too sweet of a cookie, so perfect for decorationg! very easy to make. I used 1 cup of WW flour (ran out of white) and they still turned out great!