Sugar Cookies for the Holidays -- Ready, Set, Bake!

By Allison Kociuruba

It doesn’t get more festive than decorating sugar cookies. It’s quick, fun and easy to do for almost any holiday or occasion.

Start with your favorite sugar cookie dough or this easy one from Elinor Klivans’ Big Fat Cookies cookbook, published by Chronicle Books.

To get the recipe and shopping list on your smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android device) or PC, click here.

If you have time to plan ahead, make the dough the day before so it has time to chill in the refrigerator. Get all of your supplies ready, arm yourself with a rolling pin and follow these quick tips:

• Make sure dough has softened to an easy rolling temperature before rolling out or it may crack; if it’s too cold, let sit at room temperature until ready.
• Make sure to sprinkle your work surface and rolling pin with enough flour to prevent sticking – brush excess flour off cookies before baking.
• Roll dough to an even thickness – about 3/8-inch to 1/4-inch – so cookies will bake evenly.
• Dip cookie cutter in flour before placing firmly on dough to cut. This ensures a clean cut, preventing the cutter from sticking to the dough.
• For a simple decoration, brush cookies with lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sanding sugar or sprinkles just before baking.
• Chill sheet of cut-out cookies in refrigerator for 15 minutes prior to baking to help cookies keep their shape as they bake.
• Always bake more cookies than you need as they have a tendency to disappear from the cooling rack if you have family members nearby!

Happy Holiday Baking!

Note: Special Fork will be on Thanksgiving break next Thursday and Friday. When Video Friday returns on December 2, Allison will show you how to make a simple royal icing and more fun ways to decorate cookies.

Allison Kociuruba is a freelance recipe developer and food writer who honed her skills (and her chef’s knife) as the Senior Food Editor at Good Housekeeping magazine after graduating from the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. She also spent time working in the kitchens of top New York City restaurants Café Boulud and Butter. Allison is now living and cooking in the Bay Area where she develops recipes and web content for Whole Foods Market and Driscoll’s Berries. She is also a consultant to the Center for Culinary Development in San Francisco, tracking and reporting on the latest food trends.

Special Fork is a recipe website for your smartphone and PC that solves the daily dinnertime dilemma: what to cook now! Our bloggers blog Monday through Friday to give you cooking inspiration. Check out our recipe database for quick ideas that take no more than 30 minutes of prep time. Join the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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