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Blue Ribbon Sugar Cookies

Source of Recipe

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List of Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup Crisco
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
5-5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (you may need a touch more)



Recipe

Cream butter and Crisco until light and fluffy, several minutes.
You want the fats to be blended and smooth.
Scrape bowl and add sugar, continue to cream until a very pale ivory color, another 3- 5 minutes.
The batter should lose it's grainy-ness.
Add eggs one at a time, allow each to incorporate before adding next addition.
Scrape bowl, add flavorings and baking powder.
Stir in flour.
To test if you need more flour, lift the beaters and press your finger onto the batter.
When you bring your finger back, if the batter sticks just barely, leaving only a small residue of batter, your dough is done.
If the batter still sticks considerably, you need to add about 1/2 cup more flour.
Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic.
Shape into rectangles and refrigerate 12 or more hours, or freeze for longer storage.
The colder the dough stays, and the faster you can roll it to the proper thickness, the easier it is to cut shapes and transfer them to the sheet pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Divide one rectangle of dough in half.
Roll the piece to a rectangle 1/4" to 3/8" thick on a lightly floured surface, turning and adding a dusting of flour as needed.
If you work quickly, then the dough should stay firm for cutting.
Cut into shapes and bake 2-inches apart on parchment paper covered, or silpat covered sheet pans until edges just begin to turn golden (7+ minutes).
The baking time will depend on the thickness, the number of cookies per tray, your oven, the type of sheet pan etc, how many pans are in the oven, the phase of the moon and a few other things BUT don't just go by the time settings.
When you first bake this, or any cookie recipe, be sure to time them and then destroy one by flipping it to see the bottom.
You want an even light golden bottom.
If you like the thin and crispy cookie, roll thinner and bake until the top starts to brown.
It has great flavor and crunch Allow to cool on pans completely and then remove.
Store in the open air if you are eating them in a day or so, or store in the freezer, uniced, in a plastic zip-bag sealed in a container.
They freeze great for several months!