Sugar and Spice Cookies

Did you put your rolling pin away after you finished that pie?

Time to take it out again, because with Thanksgiving behind us, it’s officially holiday cookie-baking season. If your folder of favorite cookie recipes has room for one more, I think you’ll like this week’s recipe, flavored with modest amounts of warm, aromatic cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

For those times when plain sugar cookies just don’t seem quite up to the task, but gingerbread cookies would be overpowering, these crisp and mildly spiced sugar cookies fit the bill. They work equally well when decorated with royal icing or, as I’ve done with these holly leaves, simply sprinkled with colored sugar.

Enjoy your holiday baking!

Ann
Ann Clark, Ltd.

Sugar and Spice Cookies
Makes about 15
Freshly grated nutmeg tastes best here (and everywhere). You can purchase a single nutmeg in the bulk spice aisle at most natural foods stores, and they last indefinitely. Grate the nutmeg into a small bowl with a rasp-style grater or over the smallest holes of a box grater, then measure.

Beat with an electric mixer until light, about 1 minute:   
1 cup unsalted butter, softened

Add and beat until fluffy:   
3/4 cup sugar

Add and mix until completely incorporated:
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk together and add:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
   
Mix just until all ingredients are well blended; do not overmix.  Chill dough for 3-4 hours before rolling. Preheat oven to 350º.  Roll dough out on a lightly floured counter to 1/4-inch thickness and cut with your favorite Ann Clark cookie cutters, then transfer cookies onto cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or silicone liners. Sprinkle with granulated sugar or colored sugar, if desired. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly colored. Let cookies cool slightly on cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

My favorite shapes for Sugar and Spice Cookies include the Holly Leaf cookie cutter, the Reindeer cookie cutter, and the Sleigh cookie cutter.