Sour Cream Cut-Outs and Ninjabread Men

Finally, we are getting into it.

Finally, it is starting to feel a lot like Christmas around here.  Oh, we've had our tree up and decorated, and we've had storm after beautiful snowstorm.  We've shopped and wrapped and been to parties, and are just settling down to spend cozy time with good friends.  


But what really makes it feel like Christmas?  Finally, after skiing today, we had time to make Sour Cream Cut-Outs, the quintessential Christmas cookie of my youth.  Sour Cream Cut-Outs are the cookies I made for my Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Printup.  The cookies I have had every Christmas of every year of my life.  We simply can't have Christmas without a day of rolling out dough, cutting out stars and elves and bells, and making a beautiful mess of the kitchen.

These are not your ordinary gingerbread men.

We also make some dangerous Ninjabread men, who attacked some innocent gingerbread boys, and the result was, well, not very pretty.

This unfortunate cookie has some battle scars, and he appears to be shot.

Let's get back to those Sour Cream Cut-Outs.  

Although this is basically just another sugar cookie recipe, Sour Cream Cut-Outs are my most requested recipe.  They are soft, not too sweet, and have a tender, flaky crumb.  They are good plain or decorated.  They keep for a long time without getting stale.  

 It's important to chill the dough for a few hours before you use it, and keep it chilled while you are rolling and cutting out cookies.  This makes a huge batch of cookies, so you won't be tempted to keep them all for yourself.  Just pinch off the dough in small amounts as you use it, and keep the rest in the fridge. 

It is also important not to roll the dough out too thinly unless a crispy cookie is what you're after.  Dough rolled to a 1/4 inch thickness should produce a nice, big, soft cookie.  

Sour Cream Cut-Outs

This is my mom's recipe, and it makes a lot of cookies.  How much is a lot?  We made 30 big stars, 44 little stars, 28 elves, 4 big Christmas trees, 10 big Santas, a few dozen gingerbread boys, 15 bells and 8 teddy bears. 

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten (save the whites...you may want to make meringue cookies later!)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda.

1. Cream the shortening, sugar, and sour cream.
2. Add the egg yolks and the vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Combine the flour mixture with the sour cream mixture.  The dough will be a bit sticky.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2-3 hours.
6. Keeping the dough chilled, pinch off a ball, and roll out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.  
7. Cut out cookies, and gently transfer them to a cookie sheet.
8. Bake in a preheated 375 degree Fahrenheit oven, for 10-15 minutes.  Keep an eye on them, especially the smaller cookies may cook more quickly.
9. Remove the pan from the oven before they turn brown on the edges. Cool on a rack.  Once cooled, you may call in the kids to decorate with your favorite frosting. (I use confectioner's sugar thinned with milk and a little bit of almond extract.)