Thank you Diane, Debbie, and Alva! I'm surprised to see that they made it to NY so fast. Looks like they made the trip okay for the most part. It was 75 here the day I shipped, that was not in the plan. LOL I was hoping they would be heading to cooler climates but I think y'all were/are in the sixties. We only makes these at Christmas in my family and they have always been a favoite of mine. Glad to hear you are enjoying them. Thanks for posting the pics too! David

I always thought sugar cookies were pretty tasteless until I tried this recipe from Taste of Home: 24 Servings Prep: 15 min. + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch Ingredients * 1 cup butter, softened * 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened * 1 cup sugar * 1 egg yolk * 1/2 teaspoon Spice Islandî Pure Vanilla Extract * 1/4 teaspoon almond extract * 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 1/4 teaspoon baking soda * Tinted frosting or colored sugar Directions * In a bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg yolk * and extracts. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; gradually * add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until * easy to handle. * On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. * Cut with a 2-1/2-in. cookie cutter dipped in flour. Place 1 in. * apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375ð for 8-10 minutes * or until edges begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing * from pans to wire racks. Decorate as desired. Yield: 4 dozen. They are tender in the center and melt in your mouth!

I prefer rimless, shiny aluminum pans for cookies (I use almost 30-year old Rema Bakeware insulated pans - invented by a friend of mine, Margaret Logan). I use rimmed pans (insulated and non-insulated) for many other things, but not cookies. In fact, I have 3 different sizes of each of these pans to accommodate different uses and recipes. Avoid extremely thin pans because they seem to be the #1 reason for burned cookie bottoms and under-baked tops. Tip: if you already have thin pans, you can put 2 sheets together (one on top of the other and only bake on the top sheet) for added insulation if you tend to get burned cookie bottoms. Dark nonstick pans (such as Wearever) are also popular, but not without some changes to your finished cookies. Cookies baked on dark nonstick pans can be smaller than those baked on shiny aluminum. The cookie may be more rounded, tops and bottoms more browned - especially the bottoms. Bottoms of cookies may also be harder than using shiny aluminum pans. I've judged so many cookies at fairs over the years, I can tell you which kind of pan was used for baking. To me, there IS a huge amount of difference. Black surfaced pans bake faster because the dark color absorbs heat. The diameter of the cookies may be smaller and the cookie shape be more rounded. Choose cookie sheets that are at least 2-inches narrower and shorter than the inside dimensions of the oven, so the heat will circulate around them. I also suggest having at least 3 identical sheets (4 is even better - especially if you have a convection oven and bake more than one sheet of cookies at a time) , so you always have a cool sheet to load, and all the sheets will bake the same since they are the same. I nearly always line my pans with parchment paper, if for no other reason it makes clean-up so simple. There are a few cookies that are best baked on the sheet without parchment. I bought a lifetime supply of parchment paper from a restaurant supply store, and I cut each sheet in half for my pans. I reuse it for one baking session or day of baking, especially when making cookies. Otherwise, it gets tossed into the trash when I done with a baking session. -Grainlady

I gave mine to my DD so she could bake sugar cookies for our grandsons. Now I don't have any, and I wish I had kept a few medium sized ones. So if you are sharing, I will be happy to receive some for baking and other uses such as-- I often like to use a cookie cutter to cut out the grilled cheese for grandson to encourage this little guy with almost not appetite to eat. But....