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McCall’s Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

McCall's Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Cookie recipe

I rarely bake cookies, so when I do, I almost always choose a new, never-before-tried recipe, in the interest of adventure and an increased return on the laborious exercise of measuring things with measuring cups (ugh). The exception: McCall’s Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies. Probably half the cookies I make—ever—are these.

They’re the perfect cookie, and therefore the only recipe worth returning to. They’re sweet, soft, and wonderful, and they need absolutely no decoration or intervention of any kind. They require only ingredients you’re likely to have on hand (unless you are out of sour cream) and take just a few minutes to mix. They’re good hot out of the oven, warm that evening, and in various stages of staleness as they sit. They travel well, being uncrumbleable, and they’re never not awesome. There is no better use in the world for a whole thing of sour cream, a cup of butter, and two eggs than this recipe.

The Most InterestingMan in the World

So I made them for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, a new holiday tradition that began this year with over 600 participants. I made them and mailed them and they were enjoyed by three amazing ladies whose holiday homes I was happy to help infuse with sugar and joy. The best part? Getting to discover three new bloggers: Rachel from Croissant In The City, Teri from The Freshman Cook,  and Kristen from Confessions of a (Not-So) Domesticated Newlywed.

Actually, it’s a tie, because the best part was also the extra dozen cookies I saved for myself.

Cookie Swap

Wait, it’s a three-way tie! No, a five-way tie! Because the other best part was the three different kinds of cookies I received from Kate at Passion for Life, who makes a mean sugar cookie; Missy from Cooking for Two, whose local-to-Oregon hazelnut thumbprint cookies gave us a taste of the west coast; and Traci, a local girl from Yellow Wish Bone, who sent some tasty chocolate chip oatmeal cookies in a fancy coordinating package. I had planned to post pictures of everything, but before I got my act together, John and I ate up all the cookies. So please take my word for it: they were all beautiful. Thanks, you guys!

McCall's Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Cookie recipeHere’s the recipe for the cookies I mailed out. My favorite cookie recipe in all the world.

McCall’s Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

McCall’s Cookie Collection, 1985. Makes about 4 dozen.

  • 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter or regular margarine, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla (or 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel)
  • FOR THE TOPPING:
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1. Sift flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  2. In large bowl of electric mixer, at medium speed, beat butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy.
  3. At low speed, beat in sour cream and vanilla until smooth.
  4. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well combined. Refrigerate 1 hour.
  5. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
  6. Drop batter by slightly rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets.
  7. For the topping, combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle a little on unbaked cookies.
  8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden-brown. Remove to wire rack; cool.

 

 

Note: In the next few days, a roundup of all the Food Blogger Cookie Swap recipes will be available, and I will link you to those so you can check out all the participants’ favorite recipes! In the meantime, another blogger is putting together a roundup of cookie exchange recipes as well, on At Home With Rebecka. So that should keep you busy for a little while.

Kristina Ackerman

Kristina Ackerman is a busy freelance web designer, living and DIYing with her fella and their little fella in a cute old house in Atlanta, GA, USA.

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