Sugar Cookies

The simplest, the cutest and the yummiest cookies, I've come across.
Not soft, not rock crunchy..just right...
As my granny always says, these are just "khushkhusheet". :)

I have always been a fan of baking, and was very keen on learning cookies. They look so cute and the house smells like sweet heaven when these are in the oven.
And its just fun to see your creation mould itself into delicate beauties in the oven.
Believe it or not, I still keep the oven light on when making cakes and cookies and it always bring a smile to my face to see them baking.

These cookies are really down right basic.

If you are not so sure about your baking skills, maybe these cookies are a good start. Requires very little ingredients and very little time. And like most other cookies, bakes in under 15 minutes. What more could you ask for?

Serves: Makes 40 medium sized cookies
Level: Simple

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour/all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup clarified butter (ghee)
1 tblsp milk (or as required)

Method:
Step 1 : Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Take a large bowl. Drop in the clarified butter and sugar and whisk it well till the batter is light and fluffy. I used the electric whisk here. Makes life simpler.

Step 2 : Slowly add in the plain flour, in parts. Do not add the entire flour at one go. You need to do this in parts, whisking continuously and making sure it all blends in together. By the end of it, you will have a soft crumbly mixture.

Step 3: Get your hands in the mixture and start clumping it together, so it forms a dough. The key is, to try to get a smooth round ball without cracks with the dough. If it is difficult to form that, add in milk, 1 tblsp at a time. I had to add a total of 2 tblsp to get my mixture right this time. But it can vary. The lesser, the better the crunchier.

Step 4 : Roll the dough into equal sized discs and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 12 to 15 mins. You have to keep an eye on it. When you see the base of the cookie, getting brown - You Are Done! Place the cookies on a wire rack till cool and then store it in an air-tight container.

Serve with tea.

You can also modify these cookies by adding 1/4 tsp cardamom, or cinnamon. Even 1 tsp of vanilla essence tastes really good.

You can add store bought ghee for this recipe. I've used homemade clarified butter here.

While baking these, keep the cookies a bit apart from each other as they expand while baking.

Enjoy!