Lazy Sugar Cookies

These cookies don't have to be rolled out like other sugar cookies recipes. The funny thing is that I have never not rolled them out. I love that they are soft and crispy and don't need to be chilled.

And I gotta say, I LOVE my cookie cutters! I bought one of those containers of 100 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You get 100 for $10, that is 10 cents a piece! So worth it! There are some that I will probably never use, like the football helmet or ball cap. But there are others like the alphabet, numbers, Christmas, and Halloween ones that I have gotten tons of use from. Drake loves to take the alphabet ones out and spell his name. Chloe just likes to dump all of them out and put the larger ones (and there are plenty of those) on her wrist. There is a gingerbread man and woman that are 6 inches tall! No joke!

I think that Walmart also sells something similar, also for $10. When I bought them, I wondered if I would ever even use them. Well, we have made quite a few batches of lazy sugar cookies since I bought them a couple of years ago. I think my favorite part about them, other than the fact that I will never have to buy another cookie cutter, is that there are a few sizes in a few of the shapes. There are large, medium (mediup as Drake calls it), and small hearts and stars. For example:

Small heart, perfect for little hands and mouths.

BIG heart perfect for big hands and mouths, or if you like more frosting than cookie;-)

There are also scalloped hearts of the 3 sizes:

AND a double heart.

OH! It also helps if you have an insanely huge spatula to scoop them all up at once (There are 12 little ones, here) This is our omelet flipper. Lot makes HUGE omelets, and this thing works perfect to flip them without using 2 spatulas, which is really hard to do, by the way. You basically end up with deluxe scrambled eggs when you are "flipping."

Aren't they just so pretty?

All cooled and ready to be eaten before I get around to making the icing after dinner. These are so good plain! I like to over bake a pan so they are nice and crunchy. Sooooooooo good!

Lazy Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, softened (I prefer unsalted)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 - 3 cups all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Cream the butter and sugars.
2. Add vanilla, egg, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
3. Add flour and mix in. Roll dough into balls (or use a cookie scoop).
4. Flatten on a cookie sheet with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in sugar.

5. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until very lightly browned on the sides.

When cooled, frost with your choice of frosting. I like to use a shiny icing recipe.

I really couldn't tell you how many this makes. If I am using the alphabet cutters, it makes about 5 dozen. If I am using the large gingerbread man/woman cutters, I get about 8. But I would hazard a guess and say that the yield is around 2-3 dozen regular sized cookies.

Shiny Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp clear vanilla extract
1 1/2 TBSP milk or orange juice

In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk, a little at a time. Stir until well blended, smooth and shiny. Spoon on the center of the cookie and spread to edges with the back of a spoon, bent icing knife, or toothpick.

I usually triple the recipe and use my hand mixer. I pour the icing in a pie plate and just dip the cookies in the icing. Once the icing has hardened a bit, you can put sprinkles on. If you put them on right after icing them, the sprinkles sink down into the icing.