Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups melted butter (4 sticks)
2 cups powdered sugar (not sifted)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar (critical!)
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/4 cups flour (not sifted)
1/2 cup white sugar in a small bowl (for later)

Directions:
Melt butter. Add sugars and mix. Let cool to room temperature and mix in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the vanilla, lemon zest, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix well. Add flour in increments, mixing after each addition.

Chill dough for at least one hour. (Overnight is fine).

When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 325-degrees and place rack in the middle of the oven.

Use hands to roll dough in walnut-sized balls. Roll dough balls in a bowl of white sugar. (Mix white sugar 2 to 1 with colored sugar for holidays). Place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten dough balls with a greased spatula.

Bake at 325 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. (They should have a tinge of gold on the top). Cool on cookie sheet for two minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling. They can be decorated with frosting piped from a pastry bag for special occasions or left just as they are.

Source: Hannah Swensen Mystery Book – Joanne Fluke, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
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