Party Down: It's Sugar Cookie Time
December 18, 2003

Do you know that Dire Straits song, “My Party,” where Mark Knopfler is grooving about his party and slyly reveals to his guests “the secret’s in the cheese?” Well, that is the deep dark secret you will learn today: the secret is in the cheese, the cream cheese. It’s the definitive ingredient that transforms a holiday sugar cookie from brittle basic to memorable treat. You’ve produced them: the charred, anorexic, hobbled reindeer with crappy sprinkles, and wondered “Isn’t there more to this tradition?” Well, yes there is. Follow this recipe and I promise, you’ll feel like you’re with the band. Take it a step further and host an alternative decorating party. Pre-bake the cookies and then let your gang have at it with multiple bowls of icing in a rainbow of colors and flavors like peppermint, lemon, butterscotch, and almond. Use paintbrushes, toothpicks, and forks to swirl and twirl. You will create fabulous editable art (the cookies will look more like Rod Stewart than Martha Stewart), and enjoy rocking tradition a bit with a delicious sugar cookie.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
(I double this recipe: yields 50-60 cookies)

Beat together:
- 2 cups butter (room temperature)
- 12 ounces cream cheese
- 2 cups confectionary sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 egg yolks

Mix in:
- 5 cups flour

Form dough into a ball and wrap tightly in double plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour, overnight, or you can freeze the dough at this point, too.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Lightly dust counter surface with flour and roll 1/4 of the dough out with a rolling pin, I like my cookies on the thicker side. Use cookie cutters to shape the cookies.

Place cookies on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake the cookies about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Repeat rolling and cutting until all the dough is ready.

Cookie icing
In a large bowl, beat 1 lb. of confectionary sugar, 1 tsp of flavoring and 1 T milk together adding confectionary sugar and milk until you get an icing the consistency of soft butter. Make one big batch of the icing and then section it out into small paper bowls with a variety of food colorings and flavorings.

Kim Dannies is a graduate of La Varenne Cooking School in France. She lives in Williston, VT with her husband, Jeff, and three college–aged daughters who come and go. ©2008