What has been keeping me from posting new recipes you ask? Cookies. I've been baking like crazy over the last several weeks. There have been lots of fun occasions for my friends and family lately that have had me busy decorating treats for their special days. I have used this recipe countless times, and everyone always gobbles them right up.
(My sister's cookies for her high school graduation party. She had a soft serve ice cream buffet and ice cream cone cookies to match the theme. )
Celebration Cookies (Cut-Out Sugar Cookies)
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes a double batch. (Or a single batch of thick cookies, in my case.)
3 ⅔ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 stick unsalted butter
2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
-In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
-In another bowl beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Beat until combined. Divide dough in half. Flatten in to disks. Wrap each disk in plastic. Place in fridge until ready to use.
-Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut out cookies into desired shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Place sheets in freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking. Move from freezer directly to oven and bake at 325 degrees until edges begin to look golden, 10-18 min.
*The freezer step allows the dough to be very cold, which helps the cookies to maintain their shape perfectly during baking.
Cookie Icing
People often ask for my icing recipe. The truth is, I don't have one. I have made the icing enough times that I have found it is better to just eyeball it. If yo'ure going to use a piping bag to decorate the cookies, then the texture of your icing is extremely important. You want it to be smooth and silky, and not too runny.
Here's what I do: I take a large-ish (2.5 lb?) bag of powdered sugar (sifted), mix in a little milk -just enough to moisten the powdered sugar. It should be pretty thick. Then mix in a couple of tablespoons of light corn syrup. I keep mine fairly thick and use a pastry bag to outline the shapes and then add some more corn syrup to thin it out and then I "flood" the middle. They need quite a while to dry...like overnight is best. Sorry my measurements aren't precise. I always just eyeball it. Have fun, and don't worry about the mess.
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