Disclosure: This post was sponsored by The Real Christmas Tree Promotion Board, but all thoughts and opinions remain -as always- my own. The pillowy soft, perfectly tender Stokoe Farms‘ Legendary Sugar Cookies recipe is from one provided by Martha Stokoe and her Grandma Dewarts’ recipe and was standardized for the home cook by me. These beautiful cookies are soft, sweet, fluffy, old-fashioned, and delicate.
When I visited Stokoe Farms in October, I heard about how until just a couple of years ago, Martha Stokoe baked thousands of sugar cookies each December by herself to hand out with hot chocolate to the throngs of people who came to their Christmas tree farm each year. Some people said they came back year after year especially for the cookies. Of course, my antennae went up because I figured if cookies were THAT good, I needed to score the recipe for my Foodie with Family friends. I didn’t even have to ask twice, they were sweet enough to give it to me and grant me permission to share it with you all.
I love these people. They grow Christmas trees and give me legendary sugar cookies recipes.
Today, I am happy to share Martha’s cookie recipe that was her grandmother’s recipe first; as the recipe she sent me called it “Grandma Dewart’s Sugar Cookies”. These are truly Legendary Sugar Cookies. (Scroll to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe.)
First, though, let’s talk trees, because ’tis the season! We are a real Christmas tree family -as I discussed before- because nothing can ever replace the full sensory experience that is a real tree. We made it even more of an experience this year by visiting Stokoe Farms and riding the hay wagon out into the fields past the blue spruces and Douglas firs into the Fraser fir area to choose our perfect tree.
Photo by Aidan Lindamood
We were out there for half an hour, not because it was so hard to find a tree, but because it was hard to choose and it smelled so good. The weather was glorious and we just drank in wandering in and amongst hundreds of beautiful Christmas trees. I like the trees my kids and husband call “chubby babies”; full of fragrant needles and fat from the bottom to the top. There were chubby babies galore, so we finally settled on one. Two of my boys took turns cutting it down, while my husband and the others grabbed a cart to haul our tree back to the hay wagon.
Photos by Aidan Lindamood
Back at the gift shop, they shook our tree to get rid of any loose needles or debris, baled it for us, and drilled the bottom so it would stand up true in the Christmas tree stands they recommend and sell. Bonus: the stands are tremendously economical and tip proof! We drove straight home and the hole they drilled made setting up our tree a five minute process when it used to take us what seemed to be forever. We decorated and munched on our Stokoe Farms’ Legendary Sugar Cookies.
I’m fully in the sentimental, homemade ornaments tree camp. In fact, I’m a little Clark-Griswold-in-the-attic-weepy about the whole thing. Each ornament we take from the box has a story and I find myself getting a little choked up from time to time. I sure love Christmas.
Now I need to know, how do deck YOUR tree? Do you choose a theme and decorate a show stopper of a tree? Do you prefer the sentimental, homemade sorts of ornaments? Or do you fall somewhere in between?
Cook’s Notes:
- Whisk or sift the flour and salt together before you do anything else.
- Don’t rush creaming the butter and sugar together. You want to be sure it is fully incorporated before you add any other ingredients.
- Keep extra all-purpose flour on hand. You want to make sure you have a dough that is a little firm but still sticky so depending on the humidity in your home, you may need to add extra. I needed to add a full extra cup of flour to my Stokoe Farms’ Legendary Sugar Cookies dough to make it work.
- Chill out! You need to chill this dough before you roll it out or scoop it or you will be very cranky. I like to keep the dough in the refrigerator overnight. I don’t advise freezing and slicing, though, which I learned the hard way. By the hard way, I mean that I was slicing at a roll of rock hard cookie dough for longer than I would like to do again.
- You can opt to scoop the cookies or roll them out. If you scoop them, you can use a disher/cookie scoop and plop them directly into a bowl or pie plate of granulated sugar to roll in before transferring to the greased or parchment lined pan.
- I love to use a silicone mat on my counter to keep it clean while I roll out my legendary sugar cookies dough. It’s not strictly necessary, but it helps you to get the cookie cut outs off of the counter if you’ve been stingy with the flour.
- Speaking of which, do flour your counter generously or live in regret while trying to pry cookie cutouts up while maintaining their shape. Spoiler alert: it’s impossible.
- Martha Stokoe recommends greasing your cookie sheet. By all means do that, but I like a little extra insurance in the form of parchment paper. It makes it easier to cycle through multiple batches quickly.
- I love these plain, but if you’re in the frosting camp, this sugar cookie frosting is amazing.
Prep Tips {Use these to make Stokoe Farms’ Legendary Sugar Cookies more easily}
- Stand mixer
- silicone spatula
- rolling pin
- silicone mat for rolling out dough
- round cookie cutters or dishers/cookie scoops
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Stokoe Farms' Legendary Sugar Cookies
Rate Recipe
Rebecca Lindamood
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
Ingredients
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 pound butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 medium eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 to 7.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- extra sugar for rolling or dusting
Instructions
To Make the Legendary Sugar Cookie Dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a blade, or in a large mixing bowl with a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in, one at a time, until fully incorporated. In a measuring cup, gently stir together the buttermilk and baking soda. Pour it and the vanilla into the butter mixture and beat on low until the liquid is incorporated, then move the speed up to high and beat until it is more even in texture.
Whisk or sift together 6 cups of the flour and salt and add it all to the butter and buttermilk at once. Beat on low until combined. Scrape down the bowl and beaters then beat once more until even in texture. The dough should be firm but sticky. If needed, add more flour 1/4 cup at a time and beat until incorporated after each addition.
For Cut Out Cookies:
Transfer the cookie dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and gently pat into a disc. Wrap tightly with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease or line a rimmed sheet pan or pans with parchment paper.
Generously flour your work surface and roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness, dusting the top with flour as needed. Cut to desired size with desired cookie cutters. Place at least 3 inches apart on greased or parchment lined pans. Sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on size, or until the cookies are set. Let rest on the pan for at least 3 minutes before using a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Can be frosted or left as is.
For Scooped Cookies:
Use a spatula or a flexible bench knife to bring the dough together in the mixing bowl. Wrap tightly with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease or line a rimmed sheet pan or pans with parchment paper. Pour a cup or so of granulated sugar into a pie plate.
Use a medium sized cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough balls and roll each ball in the granulated sugar before placing at least 3 inches apart on greased or parchment lined pans. Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on size, or until the cookies are set. Let rest on the pan for at least 3 minutes before using a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Can be frosted or left as is.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 48kcalCarbohydrates: 5gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 77mgPotassium: 7mgSugar: 4gVitamin A: 105IUCalcium: 6mg
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
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Did you know Real Christmas Trees are better for the environment and economy than fake ones?
How to keep your Christmas Tree from shedding all of its needles:
The Stokoe family instructed me that there are a just a couple of keys to keeping a tree from dropping all of its needles:
- Take a slice off of the bottom of the tree before putting it in the stand. For extra insurance, drill a couple holes near the bottom of the tree below where the water line will be. This will help it suck up all the water you’ll give it. This brings us to the next point.
- Keep it in abundant water. You don’t need to add sugar or aspirin or any other crazy stuff. Just give it lots of good, fresh water and never let your stand run dry.
- Keep it away from fireplaces, wood stoves, space heaters, or anything else that will accelerate drying it out.
