Grandma Radloff's Butterscotch Cutout Cookies

Grandma always had these in a cookie tin in her cubboard for the holidays. I don't have the recipe for her icing, but I remember that it was a very thin icing that could almost be painted on and was usually colored. Yellow for Easter chicks, for instance. She also used a very thin chocolate icing, which was my favorite. The eyes on the Easter chicks were of this chocolate icing although she also covered the entire shape of some of the cutouts with the chocolate frosting, for instance the Easter bunnies. From my reseaarch on cut-out icing, she probably used what's called a cookie glaze which adds corn syrup to the frosting ingredients. Susan said she remembers Grandma painting the icing on with a brush. Jane also had a recipe for a cookie glaze that is similar. Jane's Frostings for Cutouts.

3/4 cup margarine or butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 beaten egg
2 1/2 cups flour (or more if needed)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Chill dough until firm enough to roll. Roll out 1/8 inch and cut with cookie cutters. Grandma used shapes typical for the holiday. I remember her Easter cutouts the most - eggs, chicks and bunnies.

Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 450 degrees for about 6 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Once cooled, ice. Grandma painted her chicks yellow with chocolate eyes, the bunnies chocolate brown, and the eggs different colors.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies