Nutmeg Softies

November is over and December is here! Yes, I know I'm a little late. Everything has been done a little late recently, like this blog post. I made these little cookies the weekend before Thanksgiving. Between work and holidays and Nanowrimo (which Favorite and I both finished BTW, though I will deny it if you ask to see my manuscript) I didn't have time to post, but I still made time for baking. These little guys were a heap of trouble, though, and a testament to why I never make cookies that don't come with a picture. These Nutmeg Softies came out of my BH&G Ultimate Cookie Book. The first thing that went wrong is that I did not preread the instructions, and there were no pictures so when I put together the dough and realized there was no brown sugar, no molasses, no ANYTHING brown and sweet and wonderful, I knew they were not going to be what I wanted. I thought a nutmeg softie would be like a cross between gingerbread and a sugar cookie but with the only spice being nutmeg, boy was I wrong. Next I realized too late that I added 1/2 tbs of baking soda instead of 1 tsp. This was because I was baking at my mom's house. I simply grabbed the spoon that was second biggest and used it. Who owns 1/2 tbs spoons?? I decided to keep going. Then the recipe wanted me to roll and cut the dough like sugar cookies. For whatever reason this dough did NOT come out shape and bake. It was too sticky to do anything but drop cookies. So I altered the instructions a bit and decided to do drop cookies rolled in cinnamon and sugar and squashed a little with the bottom of a glass. I also added way more nutmeg then called for, a whole freshly grated pod, or seed, or whatever nutmeg is, and still found the nutmeg flavor subtle. They got good reviews, (especially since they were so delicate from all that exta baking soda!) but a nutmegy Snickerdoodle was simply not what I had in mind...

Nutmeg Softies

1/2 c. butter, softened,
1/2 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. dairy sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
4 c. all purpose flour

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening for 30 seconds on high.
2. Add granulated sugar, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined scraping sides of bowl.
3. Beat in sour cream, egg, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer and stir in any flour that remains. (Dough will be sticky)
4. Divide dough into thirds. Cover and chill dough about 2 hours or until easy to handle.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On lightly floured surface roll out 1/3 of dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out dough with desired shapes.
6. Place cutouts on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are firm and bottoms are golden.
7. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.