There were sugar and flour and butter and eggs which gave us biscuits and other sweet treats, but there were no sugar cookies.
What was missing?
True sugar cookies require a leavening agent — a baking substance that, when mixed with liquids and bolstered by the heat of the oven, creates bubbles. Bubbles magically transform dough from flat and hardened to soft and pillowy — everything that a splendid sugar cookie should be.
But I’m jumping ahead too quickly. Let’s get back to the world before the creation of those magical leavening agents named baking soda and baking powder — the world before sugar cookies.