Sugar Cookies

I realize we're two months past Christmas, and I never posted my recipe for sugar cookies. So here I am, a couple months late! Which pretty much describes almost every aspect of my life. :-) (Actually, I would have posted these much sooner, but for some reason I wasn't able to access the folder on the computer with these pictures. My hubby finally figured it out for me today, so I could post the pictures.)

This recipe comes from a Sesame Street book my parents bought when I was in Preschool, and the recipe is called Cookie Monster's Sugar Cookies. I remember my Mom making these cookies as I was growing up, and I loved them! This year I made them for my family, and they were a hit! But as it turns out, I realized I don't follow the original recipe. I didn't mean to improvise, but apparently I did. So I'll post my modified recipe, since that's what I've been making.

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 & 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Blend butter and sugar with fork. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the bowl. Knead (this is the kids' favorite part!), then chill at least one hour, or overnight. Roll out and cut into shapes on a floured board. Bake at 400, 6-8 minutes.

And here's the finished product. These are the nativity cookie cutters my parents gave us for Christmas. See if you can make out all the shapes...
I apologize the picture is a big blurry. I took this picture Christmas Eve, and I guess I didn't bother checking until now to see if the picture was in focus. :-) In any case, I'm sure you can recognize the heart, star, angel, camel, king, Joseph, Baby Jesus and manger, Mary, shepherd and sheep. But can you guess what that odd looking shape is under Mary? Actually, it's in the picture upside down. It's supposed to be a donkey, but when I first pulled the cookie cutter out of the container I couldn't figure out what that animal was supposed to be. I turned it upside down and thought it looked like a slug. My husband says this is the NorthWest version of the nativity, as we get a lot of slugs in our neck of the woods. :-) So for our family, the final critter, rather than being a donkey, is a slug.