Dixie-Style Dining: Butter Cookies

Friends, I learned something today.  Actually, I learned a few things. 

1.  Glee Season 2 is now available on Netflix!  Yes!  I had so much fun watching Season 1 this summer, and I was dying to see Season 2.  AND right now we are watching the Britney Spears episode.  Oh yeah.  It’s awesome.  I totally wish I could go back in time and be in Glee Club.  Well, only if it was THIS Glee Club.

2.  A cookie press is the coolest thing ever.  You can make so many fun shapes with this tool.

3.  You know how sometimes you bite into a cookie and it’s light and sweet and crunchy and amazing?  Well, I learned the secret to that.  It’s BUTTER. 

Every year, my grandmother would make tons of Christmas cookies.  She made chocolate chip, peanut, and butter cookies in various shapes.  She made gobs and gobs of them.  Every day she would refill the cookie platter and we never. ran. out.  Seriously, no matter how many guests we had or how many we ate… there were always more. 

Several months ago, as we were going through my grandparents’ things, I found my grandmother’s cookie press.  As I sorted through the little discs that make different shapes, I found the flower and tree I remembered, and I knew I had to have the press.  I always wanted to get one, but it’s so much more special to have my grandmother’s.  As I was making these cookies today, it was a special feeling knowing that this was how she made these cookies.

It was only fitting that I used her butter cookie recipe, too.

Dixie’s Butter Cookies

Now, let me be clear here.  These are in no way healthy or very good for you… but they are good for your soul and I promise you that they will melt in your mouth.  They are light and crunchy and have a rich buttery, sweet flavor.  You could probably make any shape cookie, but I used a cookie press to make little tree-shaped cookies.  I topped mine with green sprinkles to make them extra special!  I also made only half of this batch and made approximately 3-4 dozen cookies with it.  The recipe below is for a full batch.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. butter
• 2 cups sugar (I used white granulated)
• 4 egg yolks
• 6 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 12 tsp (or 1/4 cup) milk (I used skim)

Prep:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.  Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Blend.  Add 1/2 the milk.  Mix.  Add another 1/3 of the flour, and then mix.   Add rest of milk.  Mix.  Finally add the rest of the flour and mix.  Shape cookies and cake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (the time really depends on the size of the cookie) until the edges are golden.  Cool and enjoy!