Several contributors to our ongoing series have shared recipes for old-fashioned sugar cookies associated with many a family celebration, and the loved one who baked them. But some have struggled trying to duplicate them in their own kitchens.

Atlanta cookbook author and member of our Saving Southern Food chefs panel Virginia Willis accepted the challenge of trying to fill in the gaps — and in the process, discovered two delicious and distinctively different versions well worth salvaging. One is made with butter and rolled out for cutting into shapes; the other is simply rolled into balls, dipped in sugar and flattened with the bottom of a glass before baking.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Juanita and McK McKelvey cherished family and friends.

LOUIE FAVORITE/Staff (ENLARGE)

Juanita's Easy Sugar Cookies.

LOUIE FAVORITE/Staff (ENLARGE)

Catherine Antles Brubaker's Sugar Cookies.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Catherine Antles Brubaker, shown on her 50th wedding anniversary, loved to cook.

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Though both were typically made around Christmastime, they would be welcome any time of year.

The contributor: Marcia Dew Bansley, an Atlanta native and the executive director for Trees Atlanta, and Betty McKelvey, also of Atlanta, the daughter-in-law of Juanita McKelvey.

The story: "Juanita McKelvey was born in South Georgia where she grew up and taught school," her daughter-in-law, Betty McKelvey, told us. "In later years she and her husband 'McK' lived in Asheville, N. C., Atlanta, and Sun City West, Az., before moving back to Atlanta to spend their last years with family in friends.

"This recipe was a favorite of hers. She loved baking these cookies with her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her brother Buck (Dr. C. L.) Chandler's grandchildren.

Even into her 90s she continued to bake these cookies to take to friends and relatives. She especially liked to take them to shut-ins."

The recipe was sent to us by Bansley, part of their extended family, who got the recipe from Juanita McKelvey several years before her death in 2005. "Everyone loved getting a paper plateful of these cookies," recalled Bansley. "Juanita was a cheerful, delightful, energetic woman and a great cook," she wrote. "Her cookies were very delicate and lovely. They are beloved by everyone in the family and all friends of the family."

The contributor: Joyce Carver of Acworth, a mother of four who worked in financial areas before retiring. She moved with her husband Bill, a middle school teacher, from Montrose, Ohio, to Auburn, Georgia, in 1981 when the rubber factories in Akron were closing and population was decreasing. "My husband was afraid he would lose his job, and we had good friends who had moved to Auburn and who encouraged us to come here. We made the move and have been thrilled with that decision. We moved to Acworth in 2005 to be close to our three grandchildren."

The story: "My grandmother, Catherine Antles Brubaker, was of Scottish origin. She was a brown-eyed redhead who loved to cook. Because my birth father left my mother while she was still in the hospital having given birth to me, my siblings and I, along with my mother, lived with my grandparents until I was six years old. This all took place in Barberton, Ohio.

"While my mother worked, Grandma and I spent a lot of time together in the kitchen. Her cookies were an all-time favorite, especially at holiday time when my aunt and uncle and cousins all came to my grandparents' home. (I still have her china dishes that were used for the grown-ups for those holiday dinners.)

"When I came to the Carver family in 1955, I began my own tradition of bringing my grandmother's sugar cookies to eat with my mother-in-law's boiled custard, which was served with choices of a scoop of ice cream or a scoop of whipped cream, in her beautiful crystal goblets. The cookies also were a hit with the family.

"As I was a stay-at-home Mom until my kids started school, we did lots of cookie baking and decorating. The kids took great pleasure in frosting, sugaring, and 'messing' with decorating them.

"My older son (who is now a Presbyterian minister in North Carolina) traditionally bakes the cookies for Christmas, boxes them, and shares them with the shut-ins and/or elderly of the congregation. He has done this for probably 10 years. My girls are not as 'domesticated,' although my younger daughter last year baked and decorated the cookies for me as a surprise.

" I have continued to still make them because nothing is better at Christmas than boiled custard and Grandma's sugar cookies! My grandchildren also have joined in on the decorating if we can get together long enough to do it.

"The dough for this recipe is so soft, it is difficult to handle, and I've always felt that

Grandma failed to write something additional to her recipe (even though they taste great). It would be great to have exact measurements. I struggle with the cookie recipe every year, just because of Grandma!"

Juanita's Easy Sugar Cookies
Makes about 6 dozen

Hands on: 10 minutes, plus baking
Total time: 1 hour

Tester Virginia Willis described these cookies as thin, crisp and delicious.

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, more for flattening the cookies
1 cup Crisco
3 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick silicone baking sheet; set aside.

Combine 2 cups of the sugar and Crisco in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add milk and vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add flour and salt and mix until well-combined. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Using a small ice cream scoop or a teaspoon, scoop pecan-size balls one at a time into the sugar and roll to coat. (Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.) Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a water glass in the sugar. Lightly press the top of each ball to flatten. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. (The cookies will puff and then deflate, resulting in a crisp, thin cookie.) Remove to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining batter.

Per cookie: 72 calories (percent of calories from fat, 39), 1 gram protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 3 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 9 milligrams cholesterol, 60 milligrams sodium.

Catherine Antles Brubaker's Sugar Cookies
Makes 4 dozen

Hands on: 10 minutes, plus baking time
Total time: 1 hour

These buttery cookies are ideal for cutting into shapes and frosting or decorating with sugar sprinkles in honor of Valentine's Day, tester Virginia Willis reports.

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, more for rolling out
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Colored sugar, for decorating

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick silicone baking sheet; set aside.

Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Combine sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix until well-combined. Transfer to a piece of plastic wrap and shape the dough into a disk. Refrigerate to chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll out the dough onto a lightly floured board to 1/8-inch thick. (Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready to roll it out.) Using a cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes. Place on prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

Per cookie: 96 calories (percent of calories from fat, 39), 1 gram protein, 13 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 4 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 24 milligrams cholesterol, 54 milligrams sodium.