Easter fun: Holidays are prime time for Raytown baker

Debbie Wolff loves to decorate holiday cookies with her grandchildren. She and her husband, Steve Wolff, live near Raytown and have five adult sons and 14 grandchildren. They own a dental brokerage firm.

Q: Do you like to cook and how did you learn?

A: I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. I cooked a little when growing up, but mostly, I learned by trial and error. Now I like to clip and try new recipes from magazines like Southern Living or Midwest Living or I browse Pinterest to find new recipes. I especially love to bake and decorate sugar cookies, but I also bake snickerdoodles and everyone loves my no-bake cookies

Q: Can you tell us about your sugar cookies?

A: My decorated sugar cookies are a family tradition, so they are expected at family gatherings. I bake the cookies and have my grandchildren help decorate them, especially for holidays, including Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. I use the same recipe for every batch, but one of my sons thinks Thanksgiving cookies taste the best. Perhaps, since I only bake the cookies for holidays, the Thanksgiving cookies are special as it has been several months since we have had a batch.

I started decorating the cookies with my grandchildren, and the group of children kept getting bigger. Now I have seven granddaughters and seven grandsons and all love to help me frost and decorate the cookies.

I got the recipe from my mom and have been baking them for more than 30 years. I find that making any sugar cookie takes a bit of patience and practice, so you use enough flour that the dough does not stick, but not too much flour. The dough needs to chill at least two hours before rolling and cutting them, so I make the dough early in the morning. You can also bake and freeze the cookies so they are ready to frost and decorate.

Q: What tips can you share for frosting the cookies?

A: I used to make decorated cakes, so I often used pastry bags and tips when decorating. Now, I fill squeeze tubes with the icing so that the children can easily help and not have the frosting leak out of the pastry bags.

I make a buttercream frosting, not royal icing, so it stays soft, but we like the flavor of this frosting more than royal frosting. I use paste or gel food coloring so the colors are bright.

Sugar Cookies

Makes 3 to 4 dozen

1 cup salted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat well.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and mix well. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Place the dough on a lightly floured board. Roll until thin, about ¼ inch thick. Cut out with desired cookie cutters and place at least 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies should be lightly browned around the edges. Remove the cookies and cool on a wire rack. Frost with icing and decorate as desired.

Sugar Cookie Icing

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Food coloring

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and shortening until creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla. Gradually add in the confectioners sugar, beating well. Add 2 tablespoons milk and beat to make a creamy consistency. If the icing is too thick to squeeze from decorating bags you may need to add a little more milk. Color as desired.

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Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore are cookbook authors and food consultants that make up The Electrified Cooks. They have published over fourteen cookbooks and thousands of recipes. They are members of Les Dames d’Escoffier and blog at pluggedintocooking.com.