It’s time to enjoy holiday baking season. Specifically, baking in cast iron and pottery / clay / ceramic is wonderful, as well as on any cookie sheets I can get my hands on.

This year, as always, I’ll be making the family recipe with cut-out cookies that includes ingredients like nutmeg and sour cream, and you really cannot go wrong with it.

I included this recipe in my book Copper Iron and Clay so if you bought the book, you can use that instead of reading something off the internet! 

4¹/₂ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¹/₄ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

1 cup full-fat sour cream

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
2. In another large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add the sour cream and eggs and mix until smooth. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until smooth.
3. Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours. (Seriously, the dough is way too soft to work into shapes without this step!)
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
5. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to ¹/₄ inch thick. Use cookie cutters (or the rim of a glass) to cut out shapes of your choice. Place them on a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between the cookies.
6. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, watching closely to be sure you don’t overbake. Look for a pale golden brown along the bottom. Let cool completely on wire racks.