While I love to bake all year round, sometimes I try to sneak it in while the boys are in school so I can krank up some tunes and dance to my own beat in the kitchen. A little ‘mommy time’ if you will! But over the holidays, baking is a family activity and I wouldn’t even think of starting a batch of cookies without calling the boys to the kitchen to be my little helpers! They do make the perfect taste-testers afterall!
Have you ever seen one of those amazing Christmas trees made out of cookies? They look pretty great all stacked high and we were all set to attempt one! Cookie cutters? Check! Gay Lea Gold Premium Sour Cream? Check!
If you’ve never used this sour cream before, you might be surprised by just how thick it is! It’s Gay Lea’s thickest, richest sour cream, made with only three simple ingredients!
Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
Cream butter and shortening together with an electric beater. Add sugar, egg, Gay Lea Gold Premium sour cream, baking powder and lemon juice and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Add in flour a little at a time. Cover dough and chill for 2-3 hours, I wrapped mine in plastic wrap.
When ready, roll dough onto a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Bigger cookies may take longer.
Cool on pan, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
For the icing, beat egg whites and lemon juice until frothy (the boys loved this part!) Add in powdered sugar and beat until combined, then add food colouring and mix thoroughly. Use right away because the icing will start to harden.
Place icing in a piping bag or spread with a knife. We used both, piping the outer edges and then spreading to fill the centers. Sprinkle with candy glitter.
Allow to harden for at least two hours before stacking.
Sooooo here’s the thing, once we had all of our cookies baked, we did a dry run on stacking them before adding the icing. Good thing too because it became evident immediately that this was going to turn out more like a Christmas shrub and not a tall, pretty tree. If you plan to make a tree, I suggest you double the recipe and cut each cookie cutter twice. (the icing should be enough for all) With not enough time or ingredients on hand, we had to get creative and decided that with just a few cookies stacked, it was looking an awful lot like a Christmas poinsettia!
See what I did there?? I could have told you that the plan all along was to make poinsettia cookies, but nooooooo, I’m keeping it real! Moms all know that sometimes we have to go with the flow and have a plan B in our pockets right? The end results taste the same – amazing!
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup vegetable shortening
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup Gay Lea Gold Premium sour cream
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 3 Tbs lemon juice
- Icing
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- food colouring
- Sprinkles
- Cream butter and shortening together with an electric beater.
- Add sugar, egg, Gay Lea Gold Premium sour cream, baking powder and lemon juice and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.
- Add in flour a little at a time.
- Cover and chill for 2-3 hours
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface to ⅛ inch thick.
- Cut with cookie cutters and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
- Bake for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Bigger cookies may take longer
- Cool on pan, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
- Icing
- Beat egg whites and lemon juice until frothy.
- Add in powdered sugar and beat until combined
- Add food colouring and mix thoroughly. Use right away.
- Place icing in a piping bag or spread with a knife. We used both, piping the outer edges and then spreading the centers.
- Allow to harden for at least two hours before stacking.
Giveaway Time!
It wouldn’t be the holidays without presents right? To celebrate all the delicious ways you can infuse Gay Lea Sour Cream into your holiday recipes, we’re giving away a KitchenAid Stand Mixer to one lucky winner! You’ll find this giveaway on all the #GayLeaMom blogs!
Pretty great right? With a retail value of $400 that’s one sweet prize! But that’s not all!
I’ll also be giving away 1 year of free Gay Lea Product (12 coupons for free Gay Lea Prouduct) to one Mom vs the Boys reader!
The contest is open from December 1-31st.
Giveaway is open to Canada only, with the exception of Quebec.
You may enter to win on any #GayLeaMom blog (search the hashtag) but you may only win on one single blog.
Winners can expect their prizes within 4-6 weeks of the contest closing.
Visit the Gay Lea website for more baking inspiration and be sure to sign up for the Gay Lea newsletter before December 17th to receive this month’s copy featuring this months product: Gay Lea Sour Cream!
Disclosure: I am part of the Gay Lea Ambassador Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
Definitely going to try this recipe! ‘We make sour cream cookies all the time!!
The boys did a great job!
Shortbread cookies & lots of pies! Thank you for the chance to win!! Good luck everyone!! xx fingers crossed xx
Oh my gosh me and kids love to make divinity for Christmas of all different colors! I love your cookies!
This year it will be Cinnamon Rolls – a Cinnabon copycat . LOVE IT.
I love to bake an apple pie, eaten with fresh cream, hmm delicious indeed.
Bannic bread will be made.
Cream Puffs with homemake custard filling, put together to form a tree
Love making sprtiz cookies
I love making sugar cookies and cheesecake.
Shortbread cookies, gingerbread cookies
shortbread for sure
We always have Cranberry Pudding with butter sauce….so rich and good!
Cupcakes , my kids love them
Rum Angel Food Cake
You have yourself a very beautiful poinsettia!! the main thing is that the boys had fun making and eating, that’s all that matters, and by the looks of the photo’s they had a lot of fun!! I think I’m going to give this a try next year!!
I enjoy baking sugar cookies. They are my favorite.
Chocolate Bundt Cake with Crushed Candy Cane Icing. Sweet lovers paradise.
Eva Mitton-Urban
My favourite desert to make for the holidays is blueberry pie.
Skor cheesecake
I love make my Auntie Anne’s sugar cookies with the kids!
My favorite dessert is cherry cheesecake – yum!
My favorite Christmas baking that I make is Santa Cookies made from a refrigerator cookie recipe.
Nanaimo bars, molasses cookies and chocolate chip christmas cookies.
Homemade Chocolate chip cookies seem to be both my favorite and a great favorite around here.
homemade apple pie.
i like to make pecan pie
I like to make cakes and pies
I live to make mince tarts
I love making cookies with my boys!
my favorite thing to make for the holidays is Chocolate Shortbread
We always make shortbread cookies, Nanimo Bars and Christmas Hello Dolly Squares…YUM!
My favorite dessert to make for the holidays is fruitcake! And yes…all of my family loves it!
I like to make cheescake
sugar cookies all the way!
my fave dessert is peanut butter balls.
We love to make lots of different cookies: molasses, gingerbread, chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter. We also like all kinds of tarts.
Just love to make Christmas cake.
Will try your tasty sounding cookies.
Thanks. great pics too.
I love baking shortbread cookies
I love making banana bread and gumdrop cake!
butter tarts, oh yum
Cheesecakes! And shortbread cookies. : )
These cookies look delicious! My favorite Christmas treat is butter tarts!!
I love to bake shortbread cookies
Orange Creamsicle Cookies!
Love this simple recipe. I’m definitely going to try this out. I usually don’t make cookies, but we do bake Nanaimo bars, macaroons and brownies,
I love making shortbread! You cookie did look like a poinsettia 🙂 Looks like the boys had fun so that is what matters!
Chocolate Wafer Log!
Mmmm those look delicious! Ill have to write this recipe down! Yum! I like making chocolate mint cookies.
My favourite is to bake shortbread cookies
Gingerbread cookies
My favourite dessert to bake is shortbread cookies.
Sugar cookies would be fun with the grandkids help
My favorite sweet treat to make for the holidays is my Chocolate Dipped Shortbread.
short bread cookies, wow they made some big star cookies!
lol they are huge aren’t they!
I love making pies and Peanut butter balls and cookies , love the kids big cookies so nice 🙂
The cookies look delicious! Your boys are soo cute! Thanks for the chance to win a great prize!
I love shortbread for the holidays.
Shortbraed or my moms mince meat squares with pink icing !!
Delicious recipe, I’d sure love to win the give away. I just bought some sour cream for another recipe but just might have to use it for this one.
I love making shortbread! This year I made peppermint shortbread with crushed candy canes on top!
I do a bit of baking at Christmas time but cookies and butter tarts are my fave to do.
awesome were making red velvet fudge crackle
whipped shortbread
Just made eggnog squares using Gay Lea sour cream last night- turned out delicious!
my new favourite thing to bake is short bread
Cherry cheesecake & Chocolate dipped shortbread.
I love making sugar cookies
I will definitely be trying these awesome sour cream cookies.The boys did a wwonderful job.You must be proud of them.
Love baking shortbread and gingerbread cookies, Would love to try this recipe!
I love making gingerbread, will have to try this short bread too
Merry Christmas! My favorite dessert to make over the holidays is Christmas pudding with hot rum sauce. Thanks for sponsoring this awesome giveaway and for the opportunity to participate.
Nanaimo bars.
Hello Dollie squares. They are a big hit with everybody 🙂
Those are really cute. We like to make gingerbread men.
My favourite holiday baking is butter tarts. I’m so sad I didn’t even get to enjoy one this year!
custard