Since this is the week of Thanksgiving in the U.S. and this holiday is centered around food, I thought I’d share one of my favorite cookie recipes. This is a classic that my family has made for a long time. According to my search on the Internet, this recipe first appeared in Family Circle some 40 years ago. I found the exact recipe my mom gave me on Food.com.

The key ingredient is sour cream. I often have sour cream left over from Mexican dinners at my house, and it’s actually a wonderful ingredient for baked good to make them soft.

Sour Cream Softies

• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup sour cream (8 ounce carton)
• cinnamon sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Measure flour, salt, baking powder, and soda into a sifter.
2. Cream butter or margarine with sugar until well blended in a large bowl: beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Sift in flour mixture, adding alternately with sour cream to make a thick batter.
4. Drop by by rounded Tablespoonfuls, 4 inches apart, on greased cookie sheets; spread into 2 inch rounds; sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. [I generally don’t bother to flatten them and they come out just fine as a regular drop cookie does.]
5. Bake in hot oven (400°F) 12 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges. [Although I find 10 minutes is good enough for me, as I like them not very browned on the bottom.]
6. Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks.