• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Minnesota from Scratch

Thanks for stopping by! I'm Stephanie Thurow / MinnesotafromScratch and this is my website. I'm a food preservation instructor and bestselling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! Join me here for info on food preservation, recipes, organic gardening, chicken keeping, urban homesteading and so much more.

  • Home
  • About Stephanie
  • Order my books
  • Nav Social Menu

    Connect with Me!

    • Amazon
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

My Great Great Grandma Selma’s Sugar Cookie Recipe

December 18, 2015 by Stephanie 6 Comments

Minnesota from scratch - grandma's cookbooks

Today I’m going to share my Great Great Grandma Selma’s sugar cookie recipe! I had the pleasure of knowing my grandma for ten years before she passed away. I have joyful memories of grocery shopping with her, my great grandma and my grandma. When Selma got too old to shop, we’d sit in the bakery area and enjoy a sweet treat while the other grandmas shopped. I recall often playing the card game “Gold Fish” with her, as well as memories of painting her nails. She was a sweet woman and I am so thankful I got to know her for the short time I did. She was 93 when she passed away and though she wasn’t much of a chef in her later years when I knew her, it turns out she was quite the wizard in the kitchen in her younger years. Thankfully, many of her hand written recipes are preserved in binders that my aunt and uncle have in New York City.

Making this recipe with my daughter (Selma’s Great, Great, Great Granddaughter) somehow made me feel as if I was connecting the two in some way… bringing a tangible object from my grandma into the present for my daughter. Imaging my grandmother making these cookies around the holidays and tasting the same thing we are tasting now, nearly 100 years later is special to me.

Enough of the chit-chat, let’s get down to the recipe… 😉

IMG_3760

Great Great Grandma Selma’s Sugar Cookie Recipe
Makes about 65 small cookies

Cookie Dough:

5 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted organic butter
1.5 cups gmo-free granulated sugar
2 organic eggs
1 cup organic sour cream
1 teaspoons organic vanilla

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and heat oven to 350°F
2. Whisk dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.

IMG_3761
3. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer.
4. Add eggs one at a time, and mixing well. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined well.

IMG_3767
5. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.

IMG_3768
6. Use a spoon to scoop out dough and roll dough into 1.5″ balls. Flatten balls out with the bottom of a glass dipped in flour to avoid dough sticking to the glass.

IMG_3769

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The top of the cookie will not brown, however the bottom of the cookie will.

IMG_3771
8. Cool completely and decorate!

IMG_3775

Frosting:
2 sticks room-temp (1/2 lb) butter
1 teaspoon organic vanilla
3 cups organic powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons organic milk (as needed to create a smooth consistency)
Seelect Natural Food Dye
Homemade Colored Sugar for Sprinkles
9. Frosting: Beat butter and vanilla using a hand mixer until creamy and smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing until combined well. Add milk and continue mix. Once frosting is made, divide up the frosting into small bowls, and add food coloring until the desired color is reached.

We used Seelect Natural Color brand food dye colors Red and Forest Green. We used 2 tsp of the red to reach our desired color and 1 tsp of the green.

IMG_3778

***Though my grandma did not note if this dough could be used for sugar cookies that you roll out and cut shapes out of, we did try making three bears and it worked great. If you are going to cut shapes out of this dough, I recommend cooling it in the fridge for 2 hours before rolling out.

Happy Holidays!

 

 

All products used in this recipe were generously provided by, Lakewinds Food Co-op.

Filed Under: Organic, Recipes Tagged With: aluminum free baking powder, Bob's Red Mill Baking Soda, Bob's Red Mill Flour, Christmas Cookies, Great Great Grandma's recipe, Great Great Grandma's Sugar Cookie Recipe, Holiday Baking, how to dye frosting naturally, lakewinds, lakewinds food co-op, minnesota co-op, organic cookie recipe, organic sugar cookies, Organic Valley, Seelect, Seelect food dye, Seelect food dye in frosting, Seelect natural food dye, Soft Sugar Cookies, Sugar Cookies, Sugar cookies made from scratch, Sugar Cookies with sour cream

Harvest Right

https://affiliates.harvestright.com/1340.html

Seeds for Generations

Vegetable Garden Planning Training- Get the Most out of your Garden this Year

Mountain Rose Herbs

http://aspireiq.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=24&aff_id=9294

Nakano Knives

https://nakano-knives.com/mfromscratch

Use code MFROMSCRATCH at checkout for a special discount!

Previous Post: « How to Make Colored Sugar with Natural Food Dyes
Next Post: Cranberry-Apple Jam with Honey Recipe »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bonnie says

    December 18, 2015 at 11:23 am

    Great job with the recipe!

    Reply
    • MinnesotaFromScratch says

      December 18, 2015 at 12:09 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Michelle says

    December 18, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    Got to try them yesterday and they were delicious! Thanks for sharing:)

    Reply
    • MinnesotaFromScratch says

      December 18, 2015 at 3:07 pm

      Thanks for your help decorating! I hope Doug liked them too! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Davon says

    December 18, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    Wonderful! Do you think you could use a cookie press with the recipe?

    Reply
  4. MinnesotaFromScratch says

    December 18, 2015 at 9:33 pm

    I have never used a cookie press so I’m not sure. My gut says YES. Worth a try anyway!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FEATURED POSTS

Archives

  • November 2022
  • May 2020
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • April 2017
  • November 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • May 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013

Footer

WELCOME

Hi, I'm Stephanie. I'm the best selling author of Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving and WECK Home Preserving. My fourth book, Small-Scale Homesteading, is now available for pre-order! I'm a certified master food preserver, food preservation instructor, organic gardener, chicken keeper and nature lover. I specialize in creating easy to follow recipes and directions to help other homesteaders meet their goals.

Copyright © 2023 · Midnight theme