WHY CREAM BUTTER AND SUGAR RECIPES

Steps:

• Cream together 1 1/2 cups white sugar, butter or margarine, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Add sour cream.
• Mix together 5 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add to the egg-sugar mixture.
• Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Roll out on lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet for 10 - 12 minutes.
• To Make Frosting: In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat together the softened cream cheese and evaporated milk until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/8 teaspoon salt and confectioners' sugar. Beat until well blended. Color as desired and frost cooled cookies.

Steps:

• Make the Pate Brisee: Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor (or whisk together by hand in a bowl). Add butter and pulse (or quickly cut in with a pastry blender or your fingertips) until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some larger pieces remaining. Drizzle 1/4 cup water over mixture. Pulse (or mix with a fork) until mixture just begins to hold together. If dough is too dry, add 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse (or mix with a fork).
• Divide dough in half onto two pieces of plastic wrap. Gather into two balls, wrap loosely in plastic, and press each into a disk using a rolling pin. Refrigerate until firm, well wrapped in plastic, 1 hour or up to 1 day. Dough can be frozen up to 3 months; thaw in refrigerator before using.
• Make the pie: On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk pate brisee to a 13-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. (Reserve remaining disk for another use.) Fit dough into a 9-inch pie dish and press into bottom edges and up the sides. Trim edge, leaving a 1-inch overhang; fold edge under and crimp as desired. Freeze 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the rack located in the lower third. Line crust with parchment paper, gently pressing the parchment into the edges of the crust; weigh down parchment with dried beans or pie weights.
• Bake until the edges of the pastry begin to turn golden, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove pie weights and parchment paper. Continue to bake until crust is golden brown in color, about 15 minutes more. Transfer the crust to a wire rack to cool slightly.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and cook, whisking, over medium heat for 2 minutes (do not let flour darken). Whisk in milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Strain mixture into cooled crust and bake until filling is slightly set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.