Sugar makes cookies into a special treat

The magic of heat and chemistry turns cookies golden.
There is nothing more nostalgic than the smell of fresh baked sugar cookies coming from the kitchen. The memory of that first crunchy bite of warm cookie that melted in your mouth and the sweet taste that lingered long after the cookie was gone. Remember that?
"Well, the reason those cookies tasted so good was because they were baked with sugar," states Melanie Miller, spokesperson for the Sugar Association. Sugar is what gives cookies a tender texture, makes the beautiful glistening on top of the cookie, gives cookies that golden brown color, and makes cookies taste sweet long after you consumed that last bite.
"With all these wonderful cooking attributes, and only 15 calories per teaspoon, why experiment with new sugar substitutes in your favorite recipes -- stick with all natural sugar for your holiday baking," suggests Miller.
Enlist your kids and family in helping to make a bit of nostalgia with these great sugar cookies.
CHRISTMAS STAINED GLASS SUGAR COOKIES
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Crushed colored hard candies (about 1/3 cup)
Separate colors of hard candy. Put each color of candy in a freezer bag and crush. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, mix together flour and baking powder. Gradually stir flour mixture into wet ingredients until dough is very stiff. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill about 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Additional flour can be added if necessary. Cut out cookies using large Christmas cookie cutters. Transfer cookies to a foil-lined baking sheet. Using a small Christmas cookie cutter of the same shape as the large one, cut out and remove dough from center of each cookie.* Fill cut out sections with crushed candy. If using cookies as hanging ornaments make holes at top of cookies for string. Bake 7-9 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and the candy is melted. Slide foil off baking sheets. When cool, carefully loosen cookies from foil. If desired, decorate further with frosting and candy.
* Other shapes can be used to cut out center to make different designs: i.e., small circles and stars can be cut out to mimic ornaments on a large cookie tree.
Ultimate Cookie Book Offers 1,001 Recipes From Around the World New Reader's Digest Baking Guide Includes New and Old Holiday Treats
Another take
Reader's Digest Books offers the most unique and globally comprehensive collection of cookie recipes ever published in a single volume: "Cookies: 1,001 Mouthwatering Recipes from around the World" ($35, hardcover).
Included in the 360-page book, which ranks recipes by level of difficulty, are more than 80 types of chocolate cookies, a special section dedicated to holiday cookies, drop cookies, no-bake cookies, shortbreads, rolled cookies, and other favorites.
"We tried to cover every type and style of cookie, from around the world," explains Dolores York, executive editor, Reader's Digest Adult Trade Publishing.
SUGAR COOKIES
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut up
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Raw sugar and colored coarse sugar, to decorate
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar and lemon zest. Add half the beaten egg to form a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
Press the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Butter two cookie sheets. Roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
Use a 2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Gather the dough scraps, re-roll, and continue cutting out until all the dough has been used. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the prepared cookie sheets, placing them 1/2 inch apart. Brush the tops of the cookies with the remaining beaten egg.
Sprinkle half the cookies with the raw brown sugar and half with the colored sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just golden at the edges, rotating the sheets halfway through for even baking. Transfer to racks to cool.
Makes 30 cookies.
Source: Reader's Digest Books.