Simple joys

Baking cookies with kids is one of the most chaotic, yet simply joyful, experiences you can have.

When Ashton and Sammy showed up for cookie baking on Saturday, they were ready for action. Thankfully, so were we. Mostly. The table was covered with brown paper and rolling stations were set up for each. The dough was already made, and all the necessary equipment was strategically placed on the table.

The boys mastered the techniques of flouring, rolling, cutting, re-rolling (after limbs were inadvertently cut off by improperly positioned cutters or too-thin cookies that broke during their transfer to the waiting cookie sheets) and spatulating. Not too surprisingly, they were best at the eating part. We'd planned to make blue and purple frosting (at Ashton's request) but got distracted doing other things and before we knew it, realized more than half of the unadorned cookies had vanished. Oops. Well, there's always Valentine's Day.

Kay's Butter Cookies
This is simply the best recipe for cutout cookies, in my opinion. Only a few ingredients and no chilling required. (Although the dough can be made in advance and chilled until ready to roll, if desired.) This recipe is so versatile ... and the dough is perfectly suited for baking with kids since it's easy to work with and can be rolled, re-rolled and re-rolled multiple times. The results are always delicious. My dear friend Kay shared the recipe with me when our kids were small, and I've relied on it for baking thousands of (often last-minute) cookies for school, church, Girl Scouts and holiday events over the years.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp real vanilla or almond extract
2-1/3 cups unbleached flour

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla or almond extract. Stir in flour until well combined. Roll out on floured surface and cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake at 350F for about 8-10 minutes or until ever-so-slightly browned at the edges.

Frost cooled cookies with favorite frosting. We like buttercream (there's usually a recipe on the back of the powdered sugar bag/box). Drizzling with or dunking in melted chocolate is also yummy.