by reader request.

To my one reader out there, Emily, this one's for you! I promised you a recipe for sugar cookies and I'm a girl of my word. I've used this a couple times (modified from www.myrecipes.com) and seem to have success in terms of the cookies keeping their shape upon baking and the dough not being too sticky. Obviously, you can 1/2 the recipe of your not baking for a family of 15 as this will produce a fair amount of cookies.

Simple Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
1 C (1/2 lb.) butter, at room temperature
2 C sugar
2 eggs
1 T milk
1 t vanilla
5 C all-purpose flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Directions:
1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth and light. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.

2. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir or beat into butter mixture until blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days.

3. Unwrap dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough out, a portion at a time, to about 3/8 inch thick. Cut with a 3- or 4-inch round cutter and place cookies slightly apart on buttered or cooking parchment-lined 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.

4. Bake cookies in a 350° oven until edges are golden, 10 to 14 minutes; cool completely before icing.

I just make my icing with powdered sugar, dash of milk and a touch of vanilla. In terms of colors, the sky's the limit. Give it a try and make some Easter cookies. Who doesn't want to eat delicious eggs, baby chicks and bunnies...in cookie form, of course.