Christmas Under the Stars

One of my favorite things of the Christmas Season is "Christmas Under the Stars". My church hosts it every year. We gather at McGee park which is all lit up with twinkle lights and we sing Christmas Carols and listen to the story of Christ's birth while holding cheap little candles that drip wax all over you if you are not careful. Then we eat TONS of homemade cookies and drink hot cider and just be friends. It is good fun!
Since I don't need much of an excuse to bake, I made tons of cookies for the event. I made my mom's traditional sugar cookies. It is funny how food can be so nostalgic, these cookies totally make me think of childhood Christmas's. I think if I made them any other time of the year, I would still think of Christmas. I did discover though, that these are pretty time consuming because you have to cut them into shapes and then frost and decorate them. So, if you attempt to make these make sure you have enough time. Tossing some pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough in the oven is much quicker! I quadrupled this recipe and it made 84 cookies so one recipe should make 18-19 cookies.

Sugar Cookies:

1 cup butter

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups flour

Frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup butter

2-4 Tbs. milk

Cookies:

Mix butter, sugar and salt until smooth. Add egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll on floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.

(notice my OCD tendencies here?)

Frosting:

Mix together powdered sugar and butter. Add milk until the frosting is a good spreading consistency. Use food coloring for tinting. Frost cookies and decorate with sprinkles if desired.