While looking forward to Halloween this year, I brought out my favorite sugar cookie recipe. From Martha Stewart’s collected recipes for every day, published in 1995, the recipe for Sugar Cookies II is nothing short of perfect. The dough is perfect for rolling and decorating. I chill the dough for a minimum of one hour, and even re-chill after rolling.
I used half of the recipe this year to make 18 large ghost cookies. I also used her simple icing recipe which coats the ghosts just perfectly.
Here is the half recipe for the cookies:
2 1/4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 stick unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/4 cup milk
Cream butter and sugar with a mixer. Add egg and beat. Add the 
dry ingredients, with milk and vanilla. Wrap and chill.
Remove from refrigerator, roll out cookies. Return to the refrigerator for 8-10 minutes before baking at 375 
for 10 minutes per tray. I roll out using a floured silpat mat. Icing recipe: 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 egg white and 4 drops of lemon juice. Stir and decorate.
angel food garden 