Paula's Tea Cakes

Paula and Louie are good friends of my parents. Paula makes these "tea cakes" that are actually cut-out sugar cookies. My dad and my husband think they are the best cookies ever made. Mom and I think cut-out cookies are a pain in the butt, but this recipe makes a bunch and our guys like them and we like them, too, so we bake them occasionally. Not nearly often enough, say Dad and Terry. They are probably right.



Paula's Tea Cakes

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 lb. butter

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

6 cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (lemon, maple, and butter are also good flavors to use)



Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and flavorings. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add to butter and egg mixture. Roll out on a floured dough board. Dip cutter in butter then sugar. Cut cookies. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or less or until lightly brown.



Notes:

If you have a wimpy mixer, you will probably want to half this recipe.

For Valentine's Day this recipe made 32 large heart-shaped cookies.

I roll my cookies on parchment paper between 1/4" spacer bars made from a stick of balsa wood from Hobby Lobby. It was a 3' stick that I broke in half.

I also used parchment paper to line the cookie sheets for baking.

I sugar the board rather than flour it if I'm not going to ice the cookies.