Sour Cream Cookies

Several of you have asked over the years for the recipe for the cookies we use for the Psychedelic Christmas Cookies. These are similar to sugar cookies, only so much more moist and flavorful. If you enjoy them, then give thanks to my step-mom, Cathy, who shared her recipe with me many years ago.

Here's what you'll need for the cookies.

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sour cream (not fat free or reduced fat...get the real stuff)

2 2/3 cups flour

Cream together shortening, sugar, vanilla, egg. Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add alternately the sour cream and flour. Mix until dough doesn't stick to your hands. Roll out and cut with cutters (make them thick so that they will not be crunchy). Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 425 degrees for about 6-8 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool and then frost.


4 cups confectioners sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbs. melted butter

Mix together and divide into small bowls. Then, create the "funkiest" colors imaginable with food coloring. Only then can they be "Joos Psychedelic Christmas Cookies." For those of you who want to make picture perfect cookies, here is what I would recommend: Don't add as much milk at first so that the frosting is thick enough to be piped around the edges. (If you don't have official frosting tips, bags, etc., you can probably use a thick ziplock-type bag and just cut a very small hole in one corner. Think: pencil lead thickness. Just go slowly so you don't burst the bag or glop on your cookie.) You want only a thin line on the edge. Then add the milk to remaining frosting until the frosting is thin enough to "flood" the cookies. In order to get the striped effect, flood the cookie then go back over drizzling the alternate color for fun. It will meld together as it solidifies. They don't look professional, but we sure have a whole lot of fun!

We make a bunch (usually tripling the recipe), frost them, let them sit for a while and then freeze them. Be sure to put wax paper between the layers so that they don't stick together.