The Best Sugar Cookies

With annual business plan meetings all week at work, I figured I could use some divine intervention. So last night I turned to the church…cookbook.

The Best Sugar Cookies are one of the many homespun recipes from the cute little vintage church cookbook Jean Martha's (I Love Upstate) mom recently found at their “local junk store.” Jean’s house is right across the street from the church, so it’s even sweeter.



The recipe could not be easier. I made minor substitutions, including using half spelt flour and organic palm shortening (I have a feeling recipe scribe Miss Joan Mathes, and perhaps even Jean Martha, just rolled her eyes at my tree hugging hippie modifications.).

And they're perfect for Easter...since the cookies seemed to procreate like bunnies! One cookie sheet out of the oven, another in. Repeat. And so it went. For almost two hours on a “school night.” You see, part of my problem in life is recipe-reading comprehension. I'm fine with things like, say, 19-page RFPs or Kafka books, but paying attention to a recipe through to the end before I start to bake seemingly eludes me. And if I had chosen to read this one just a hair more closely, things like “3 ½ cups of flour” and “yield = 7 dozen” would have maybe –- just maybe -- jumped off the page a bit.

I'll update with photos of the finished product when I'm reunited with my camera cord this weekend at the shore house. I think I’ll also give the doughnut recipe on Southern Hospitality (via Southern Plate) a try. I will have earned them by Saturday.