Place sugar and butter/margrine in a microwaveable bowl and heat just until melted. Add vanilla. Break egg into sugar mix bowl, whip slightly to distribute egg white and yolk then stir into "wet mix." Sift together and add the three dry ingredients. Stir by hand until a dough is formed. Place on waxed paper and chill until firm. (If in a hurry, pull off quarter-sized, up to 1 1/2-inch, between palms of hands to form balls.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies (see options below) for about 11-13 minutes or until edges just begin to turn light golden brown. Watch for overbaking. Cool 1 minute then remove from cookie sheet. Sprinkle with additional sugar if desired.

And when it's summer, mix some of this dough into vanilla ice cream for Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

Options:

Colored Sugar
Mix a drop or more of food coloring with table sugar about 1/2 inch deep in a small Pyrex bowl. Stir until colored. Prepare several colors or tones of colors.

Ball Version
Place a ball of dough in Pyrex bowl and rotate around until covered by colored sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Mash down with the bottom of a drinking glass, a fork or your thumb.

Really Lazy Version
Shape dough into a roll as evenly as possible. Cut into 1/4 inch slices, place on ungreased cookie sheet and dust with colored sugar or other bottled decorations.

Decorative Version
Roll chilled dough out flat and 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to make shapes. For leaves, cut them free hand. Dust with bottled decorations or colored sugar.

Original Interiors
To above recipe, add 1/2 cup English toffee bits or chocolate chips. Form into balls and mash.