PERRYSBURG — When Jerry and Jerri Reitzel moved next door to Jim and Debbie Williams on Oregon Road in 1991, a tradition was started — Cutout Sugar Cookies for the holidays.

Debbie Williams passed on a recipe for making the cookies from scratch to Jerri Reitzel, and that recipe lives on to this day in the Reitzel family.

Debbie, at age 65, lost her life battling stomach cancer on July 9 and Jerri dedicates the recipe to her memory.

Jerri and Debbie’s cookies, made entirely from scratch, have become a legend with the extended families and friends of both couples. The cookies go beyond any sugar cookies — they have a smoothness and flavor that will make you smile.

“We were good friends with and are good friends still with their daughter Michelle (Ruegsegger),” Jerri said. “It’s been a treasured recipe of mine. I have made it many times — made it to the point where I sold them for a short time in my life, and now I just bake for family.

“We lived next to them for 20 years. We moved but kept in contact. It is her recipe and I like to leave it in memory of Debbie Williams because I’ve always used it and always loved it — it’s my favorite cutout recipe.”

When Debbie first shared the recipe, Jerri began a business making the cookies in bulk in her basement to sell, but not to stores, only to friends and family.

Now, when Jerry and Jerri Reitzel’s family members show up for Christmas, they come to expect her cookies, although she no longer sells them. Of course, the cookies can be prepared for any holiday, and for this feature, she decorated for Valentine’s Day.

“With my family we’ve started a tradition of holiday baking,” Jerri said. “We get together, we come in Christmas pajamas, and we bake cookies, just for the fellowship.

“The last Christmas, Christmas of ’22, just with my recipes specifically — that included Buckeyes, sugar cookies, what I call wedding balls and thumbprint cookies — I used 43 pounds of powdered sugar and lots of eggs, lots of flour, lots of butter, and for some recipes, lots of margarine.

“At Christmastime, I made eight batches of the cutout cookies, and you roughly get, depending on the cookies, about six dozen per batch.”

That’s 576 cookies — but every single cookie is baked with care and quality.

“I think the key to it, which is unusual in a lot of recipes, would be the powdered sugar and the lemon juice,” Jerri said.

“Another secret is I specifically only use the Gordon Food’s margarine. I feel that’s the best thing for the recipe. I do not use butter. I’ve tried to use butter a few times and the cookie just doesn’t bake as well, and the Gordon Food margarine is the best margarine I’ve found for the recipe.”

She’s also found a frosting that perfectly matches the cookie.

“I just feel that the cream cheese frosting just kind of adds another layer of deliciousness to the recipe,” Jerri said. “The frosting sets up well with the meringue power that is in the ingredients in the recipe, for the frosting carve-ins where you can put them on a tray and they won’t all stick together.”

There are a few other tricks.

“I only use Airbake cookie sheets, and that is in the recipe,” Reitzel said. “I watch the oven — I don’t like the cookies to get brown on the bottom. I like the cookies to stay soft.

“That’s according to preference also. If you like a crunchier cookie, just leave them in the oven a little longer.”

Reitzel has another recommendation to make mixing easier.

“The recipe mixes better with a kitchen-stand mixer or any brand of stand mixer. The dough gets a little thick, so it’s easier to do with a stand mixer,” Reitzel said.

Jim and Debbie (Snyder) Williams were married approximately 48 years ago, on Feb. 15, 1974, and Jerry and Jerri Reitzel are a couple years younger. Jerri has already put in a plan for her family to continue enjoying the cookies at holiday time even if she cannot.

“Everybody loves them. It’s now a recipe that my daughter Holli has mastered,” Jerri said. “She will carry on the recipe when I’m no longer able to bake them and she’ll do them at the same level as my cookies are.”

The recipe has made a public appearance before, too, as one of the recipes featured in a cookbook produced by St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stony Ridge.

If you want to take a crack using her recipe, prepare to set some time aside.

“I’m pretty proficient at it so it doesn’t take long for me,” Reitzel said. “It is a challenge for other people that don’t like to bake. I’ve rolled a lot of cookies.”

Cutout Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups)

1 pound margarine (Gordon Foods brand recommended)

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 cups flour

Directions

Thoroughly mix powdered sugar and margarine. In separate bowl mix eggs, lemon juice and baking soda. Add to sugar mixture and thoroughly blend together. Add flour. It is important to mix each step completely. Refrigerate overnight. Roll out small batches at a time ¼ inch thick and cut with your favorite cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie springs back to center when touched. Cookies should be about the same color and not brown. Airbake cookies sheets are recommended. Frost with frosting recipe that follows.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 pound powdered sugar

3 ounces cream cheese

¼ cup butter

1-1½ teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons meringue powder

Milk (enough for desired consistency)

Cream together cream cheese and butter, add vanilla and meringue powder. Mix in powdered sugar and small amounts of milk to get desired consistency.

Cutout Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups)

1 pound margarine (Gordon Foods brand recommended)

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 cups flour

Directions

Thoroughly mix powdered sugar and margarine. In separate bowl mix eggs, lemon juice and baking soda. Add to sugar mixture and thoroughly blend together. Add flour. It is important to mix each step completely. Refrigerate overnight. Roll out small batches at a time ¼ inch thick and cut with your favorite cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie springs back to center when touched. Cookies should be about the same color and not brown. Airbake cookies sheets are recommended. Frost with frosting recipe that follows.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 pound powdered sugar

3 ounces cream cheese

¼ cup butter

1-1½ teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons meringue powder

Milk (enough for desired consistency)

Cream together cream cheese and butter, add vanilla and meringue powder. Mix in powdered sugar and small amounts of milk to get desired consistency.

(Jim Williams’ name was corrected in this story on Feb. 1.)