Sharing Some Sugar Cookie Love

Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

Love is in the air..

And, it has nothin' to do with a man. It's all about the cookies. Yes, you heard me right, colorful, sugary, heart-shaped ones to be exact. They say food is the way to a man's heart, well I'm pretty sure it's the way to mine too. Diamonds are great, and I love a great pair of shoes, although, for me it's sneakers or flip-flops, I'll pass on the stilettos. And, I love a little glitz and glitter from time to time, but a wonderful meal or a decadent dessert is the way to win me over. Heck, even a batch of adorably decorated cookies or cupcakes and I'm your girl.

I think this is probably one of the cutest batches of decorated cookies I've done, and of course Valentine's Day just wouldn't be Valentine's Day with out some sort of cute dessert all decked out in pink and red, right? This is my go-to sugar cookie and icing recipe: No-Fail Sugar Cookies with royal icing, and I've shared the recipe for both here before. They were part of my 12 Days of Christmas Baking.

Go here for my tips on working with the dough, which by the way, my method makes it super easy to work with and my way chills the dough much faster than normal. You'll also find my tips on preparing and working with the royal icing. They aren't the be all end all tips, but definitely what works best for me. If you have great tips please feel free to share, I'm always looking for new methods or ways to make things easier. If you share tips and I love them I'll definitely be sure to mention them and shout you out in the future.

No-Fail Sugar Cookies
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or use my wax paper hint mentioned above)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.

This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies.
Recipe from kitchengifts.com

Royal Icing
3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 cups confectioners sugar
6 tablespoons warm water (it must be warm water)

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.

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Merry Christmas! Let's Recap

Merry Christmas y'all! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday, filled with lots of love, family and good food. I certainly have! Christmas Eve was wonderful, followed by a fantastic Christmas day. Both days were spent in the company of wonderful family. I have to admit, the days leading up were extremely busy and at times pretty hectic, but it was the wonderful kind of busy and hectic. My days were filled with the usual mommy duties, as well as baking goodies, lots of grocery shopping, buying gifts and then wrapping. And, let me tell you, the wrapping? I don't know what it was about this year, but I made myself look like a total amateur, and I always thought I was pretty decent in the gift wrapping department. Granted, I can't make a bow to save my life, but I figured I was handy with a roll of wrapping paper. This year, not so much! Almost every box I measured wrong or cut too much off the end and had to cover up bare spots. I was so embarrassed! Thankfully, no one seemed to notice, and if they did they were kind enough not to call me out on it.

Atleast I didn't mess up the food though right? I was a little worried about one dish though, and dessert at that. We all know that's the most important part of the meal right? No? Well, maybe that's just my sweet tooth talking. No matter how you feel about dessert, I'm happy to report, the dessert turned out wonderfully and got rave reviews. I even had a picky eating teenage boy come back for seconds and a ten year old picky girl who claimed it to be, "Okay", but was scarfing it down like nobody's business, so I'm thinking she liked it more than she wanted to admit. But, more on that later.

Now, let's do a little 12 Days of Christmas Baking recap shall we? I thought for anyone who is visiting for the first time or even if you've been following along and maybe you've missed a day in the series somewhere along the way a recap would be the easiest way to see all the Christmas goodies I've been sharing lately. Plus, I won't lie, I wanted to make a cute little collage, and this was as good an excuse as any!

(The photos go left to right on each row.)

1. Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles - Day 1
2. Spicy Gingersnaps - Day 2
3. Eggnog Cookies - Day 3
4. Coconut Biscotti - Day 4
5. Gingerbread - Day 5
6. Spinach Pinwheels - Day 6
7. Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing - Day 7
8. Cake Truffles - Day 8
9. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies - Day 9
10. Easiest Peanut Butter Fudge - Day 10
11. Spicy Sausage Balls - Day 11
12. Cinnamon Sugar Scones - Day 12

Stay tuned for the reveal of my nerve-racking dessert that turned out to be a success, as well as my mashed potato casserole recipe I tried out on Mr. Picky Eater. Plus, a few more tried and true recipes that I absolutely love, including my Nana's traditional Christmas cake that I've put my own spin on.

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12 Days of Christmas Baking - Day 9 Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I absolutely LOVE Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. I am a huge peanut butter cup fan, and adore peanut butter cookies. These cookies give me the best of both worlds. They are pretty great any time of year, but they're perfect for gift giving because their size and shape makes them easy to stack and package. Plus, who doesn't like peanut butter cups?

I will make a little confession, the first time I made these I wasn't sure if the peanut butter cups were supposed to be inserted into the cookie before or after baking so I tried both, and guess what? Either way works! The chocolate will bubble up a little if you stick the peanut butter cups in the dough before baking though (as evidenced in the photo), and they go in super easy after baking, so I say just do it that way. You will need a mini muffin pan to make these, and with this recipe I end up using the whole bag of peanut butter cups, minus the few that mysteriously don't make it that far. Somehow they get eaten before the cookies finish baking. No idea how that happens!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

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The 12 Days of Christmas Baking - Day 7 Sugar Cookies

Everybody loves sugar cookies right? No, seriously, they do don't they? I won't call them my favorite cookie, I reserve that title for chocolate chip cookies. Sugar cookies are pretty great though, especially when they are crispy around the edges but still just chewy, with that buttery goodness. Not only am I an avid baker, but I love to decorate cookies (and cakes). As a result, I have a little bit of an addiction to cookie cutters. You name the occasion I probably have a cookie cutter for it, holidays especially. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and most especially Christmas. When a holiday rolls around I break out the accompanying cookie cutters and get to mixing and rolling.

I've tried various sugar cookie recipes over the years and some are either too bland, come out too hard, or the cookies spread too much resulting in funky looking blobs that slightly resemble their initial shape. I absolutely love and highly recommend No-Fail Sugar Cookies. The recipe makes a generous batch, the dough is easy to work with, the cookies hold their shape, and the resulting cookies taste fantastic. I've seen many mentions of this recipe, so I am apparently not the only one who loves it.

I want to share my secret, or okay, maybe it's not so secret tip with you. As soon as I finish mixing up the dough I like to sandwich portions between wax paper, roll it to the desired thickness then stick it in the fridge or the freezer on cookie sheets to chill. That way you aren't handling the dough too much, which can result in it softening too much, causing the baking cookies to not hold their shape as well. Also, the dough chills faster. Not to mention, you have less mess to clean up.

While the cookies are in the oven baking to a golden deliciousness and smelling the kitchen up something amazing I like to whip up a batch of royal icing to decorate the beauties with. If you haven't worked with royal icing there's a few things you should know:

1. Your mixing bowl and utensils need to be extra clean and free of grease. The grease free thing is important!
2. Always make sure when not using your royal icing you have it sealed in air tight containers or cover the surface with a layer of plastic wrap. The stuff dries out fast! If you are piping it on your cookies it's a good idea to cover the icing tips with a moist paper towel when not using.
3. You REALLY need to follow the instructions precisely. I pretty much wing it with buttercream, but royal icing doesn't work that way. I know it says to mix for what feels like forever, but I promise it is necessary.
4. Allow the icing plenty of time to harden. The stuff will look hardened, but if you start to handle them cookies too soon after icing (other than to eat them) you'll mess up your pretty icing job and we don't want that! But, once the icing has completely hardened it is very sturdy. You can stack cookies on top of each other without worry that the icing will smear, the cookies will stick together, etc. The sturdiness of the icing makes these perfect for shipping if you have a loved one you want to send goodies too.

No-Fail Sugar Cookies
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or use my wax paper hint mentioned above)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.

This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies.
Recipe from kitchengifts.com

Royal Icing
3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 cups confectioners sugar
6 tablespoons warm water (it must be warm water)

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.
Note: Remember to keep all utensils and mixing bowls grease-free. Yields 3 cups

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12 Days of Christmas Baking - Day 4 Coconut Biscotti

Biscotti is the perfect little sweet treat to go with that morning cup of coffee if you want a little something to munch on but don't want to actually eat breakfast. A cookie or even a mini muffin is the route I tend to go if I want something in the morning to go along with my coffee. I am only an early riser if absolutely necessary so I don't find that I often need breakfast. I can usually get by with a cup of coffee until lunch, but sometimes I just want a little something to nibble on and although I don't make it often I find biscotti to be the perfect thing.

Christmas is the perfect time to bake up a batch, or three of biscotti. It has a long shelf life, it's not extremely fragile, so it's easy to transport if you choose to give it away on a goodie tray like I often do, and it packages nicely. Stick some in a cellophane bag, tie it up with a ribbon and you've got a cute little gift to give. I have batched up different flavors over the years, but Coconut Biscotti seems to be my favorite.

You won't find many coconut recipes around here because although I love the stuff Mr. Picky Eater does not. With only two people in the house unless I'm having folks over, going to a potluck or making my Christmas Baked Goodie Bags I skip over the coconut recipes. Mr. Picky Eater won't eat biscotti anyway, so I can get away with making whatever flavor suits my fancy. This flavor definitely suits my fancy. It is a fairly simple recipe with just the right amount of coconut. The flavor is not overpowering, it's pretty much the perfect amount. When there is a batch of these around I find myself nibblinging one every morning with my coffee until suddenly there are no more. That's a sign of a good cookie. And, thankfully the biscotti are pretty low fat, so I am not too riddled with guilt when I eat these.

Coconut Biscotti
Original Recipe From Cooking Light

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 300°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through nutmeg). Place sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until thick. Add flour mixture and coconut; stir to combine (dough will be very sticky). Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface; knead lightly 7 or 8 times. Shape dough into a 15 x 3-inch roll. Place roll on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and pat to 1-inch thickness. Bake at 300° for 40 minutes or until roll is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Cut roll diagonally into 20 (1/2-inch-thick) slices; stand slices upright on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire rack.

Yields:20 cookies (serving size: 1 biscotto)

2.5 grams of fat

*The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups flour, but the dough was entirely too sticky.

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12 Days of Christmas Baking - Day 3 Eggnog Cookies

Each season has its signature foods and drinks. For Christmas one of those signature items is Eggnog. It seems to be a drink you either love or won't touch. I fall into the won't touch category. I simply do not drink it, not even a sip or two. Consistency is the main reason. If it was a warm drink I don't think the consistency would bother me, and before you say it, I know, it is occasionally served warm. Well, a few Christmases back a friend's wife sent over a big plate of various cookies, most were decent but nothing to die for. Except one cookie really stuck out with me, and that was the Eggnog Cookie. I had never had these before or even heard of them, but after that I knew I had to add Eggnog Cookies to my Christmas baking repertoire. I wasn't able to get the recipe from said friend, so I searched the web and came up with various recipes that were pretty similar. Me being me, I did a little tweaking to make the recipe my own. The cookies we were given had icing drizzled on top, which I planned to add also, but after baking the cookies and doing a taste-test I nixed the icing idea because the cookies were so good as is just sprinkled with a little additional nutmeg before baking.

These Eggnog Cookies, are not your average cookie. They're soft and a little cakey, not chewy or crispy at all. I typically go for chewy cookies with a little crunch around the edges, but these are great, and I love the hint of spice with that extra boost from the nutmeg sprinkled on top. And, like the Spicy Gingersnaps, if you manage to keep these cookies around for more than a few days you'll be fooled into thinking you just baked them because they keep their freshness well.

Don't forget to add these to your "must bake" list for next Christmas!


EGGNOG COOKIES

2 ½ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
½ t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
3/4 c. butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
½ c. eggnog
1 t. vanilla
2 egg yolks
1 T. nutmeg, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 300°. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar; add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Stir flour mixture into eggnog mixture until uniform. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet; sprinkle cookies lightly with nutmeg. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.

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12 Days of Christmas Baking - Day 2 Spicy Gingersnaps

Near the top of my list of Christmas baking goodies is always Spicy Gingersnaps. The spice combination just screams Christmas, not to mention the smell that fills the kitchen while these are in the oven. That molasses, gingery goodness, on man my mouth waters just thinking about it! I find myself craving these cookies..I mean really craving them. I've always been a gingerbread lover. But these are over the top good to me. Just the perfect amount of spices and the texture is amazing, soft and chewy. They almost seem to melt in your mouth.

This is a super simple cookie to whip up, you don't even need to break out the mixer, you can stir these up by hand. They can be in the oven in no time because they don't require chilling. Another great thing about these is that if you manage to keep these around for more than a few days they are still great. The use of oil instead of butter keeps them soft and chewy. And, that's one thing that intrigues me about this recipe is that it contains NO butter. None. Zero. Zilch. Not a single ounce. I've never tried sub'ing butter for the oil, I figured why risk ruining a wonderful thing? Curiosity hasn't gotten the best of me with this recipe, and I'm determined that it never will. The dough is formed into balls and half is dipped in sugar so they come out having these yummy little sugary sweet crunchies on top. Unfortunately when using just plain white granulated sugar those crunchies don't show up as well in the finished product, so I prefer to use sanding sugar, although I tend to use a bit of each. I have also tried colored sugar, which I don't recommend simply because it doesn't show up as well what with the darker brown coloring of the cookie.

I do not know where this recipe originated. It was given to me by my former boss, titled "Angela's Gingersnaps", Angela being his wife's name. So possibly she developed or perfected the recipe. If so she came up with one heck of a cookie and my praises goes to her.


Spicy Gingersnaps

4 c. all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. vegetable oil(or another flavorless oil, I've also used canola)
2 eggs
2 c. sugar
1/2 c molasses

In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt, set aside. Mix together oil, eggs, sugar and molasses just until combined. Add flour mixure and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Roll dough into small balls, about 1 tsp each. Dip 1/2 of each ball into sugar and place sugar side up on cookie sheet. Space several inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen.

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12 Days of Christmas Baking - Day 1 Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles

As we all know, Christmas is fast approaching, which means many of us have started decking the house, hitting the stores, wrapping the presents and best of all, baking! I haven't started decorating yet, and I just kicked off the shopping yesterday. The baking? Would you believe I haven't started going crazy with that yet either?

Even if I haven't kicked off my holiday baking frenzy yet, and believe me, it will be a frenzy like it is every year, I am kicking off my 12 Days of Christmas Baking. I will share with you all the wonderful cookies I bake in an effort to plump up my loved ones each Christmas. And, even though it's not a sweet recipe Christmas just wouldn't be the same around my house if I didn't bake atleast one batch of my yummy Sausage Balls, so you can expect to find that recipe too! You can expect to find a candy recipe or two mixed in there as well, because Christmas just wouldn't be the same without whipping up some kind of yummy candies to give away right?

I thought I'd kick things off with some yummy snickerdoodles. They are great anytime of year, but the cinnamon sugar thing makes me think of Christmas, and if you are giving cookies away, you can seldom go wrong with snickerdoodles.

I'm a sucker for a good cookie, and I'm always craving the adventure of a new recipe. I remember eating snickerdoodles as a kid, but my experience with them was minimal. For whatever reason, they just weren't a cookie we had around my house. I remember them as buttery, soft and chewy with a wonderful crispness on the outside from the cinnamon sugar they are rolled in before going in the oven. Since there was no tried and true recipe passed down through my family I decided to dig around the web and look for one with good reviews. Before my addiction to Pinterest I used allrecipes.com a good bit, and I've seen"Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles" over and over on allrecipes. When I see a recipe with a high rating from a huge number of people I figure it's probably pretty good and worth giving a try.

Since first trying these it's not a recipe I've made dozens of times..yet! But, overall I've been pretty happy with these snickerdoodles, they have a nice flavor, but aren't as buttery as I would like, so I'll have to work on that. I made an adjustment to the cinnamon sugar mixture from that in the original recipe. The first go round with these it looked like there wasn't nearly enough sugar so I doubled the amount and found that was perfect for me. I also refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes before prepping it for the oven.

Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place
2 inches apart on ungreased or parchment lined baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets to cooling rack.

Makes approximately 48 cookies

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A Family Tradition: No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Growing up I could always tell when it was getting close to Christmas because my Nana would whip up a batch or two of her famous No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies. They are outta this world and not like anything else I've ever tasted. I would venture to say that many people reading this probably have never had a cookie quite like this. They're BOILED not baked. Yup, you read that right, they're boiled! They are totally simple, with just a handful of everyday ingredients, things that you probably already have in your kitchen. This is a very unassuming, unsophisticated cookie, but gosh I could eat myself sick with these babies. And yanno what?? Tummy ache and all I would still be the happiest girl you've ever seen, they are that delicious!

The cookies contain no flour, the base is peanut butter and oatmeal, and seems extremely simple, but I won't lie, you either have the knack for making these or you don't. If you do count yourself blessed and know that it really is simple.

I've always been the baker in my family and I tried for years and years to make these cookies, usually failing miserably. They would always taste wonderful, but the consistency was wrong, they just wouldn't set up and you'd end up eating them with a spoon. It's totally unexplainable, the same ingredients, the same cooking time, except it seemed like the magic was missing. A few years ago though, I finally beat my struggles & knock on wood I got the hang of it. I've had a batch or two since then that stayed more soft, eat em with a spoon than should be, but usually they harden into those delicious little cookies I remember from my childhood.

So I challenge you, no better yet I encourage you to try these cookies out & let me know how you do. I would love to know if you enjoy these cookies as much as my family does. Around here we're split down the middle in regards to the addition of cocoa powder. They're great either way and no changes are needed if you want them sans chocolate.

Boiled Cookies

2 c sugar

1 stick butter/margarine

1/4 c cocoa powder(optional)

1/2 c milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c peanut butter, chunky or smooth

2 1/2 c oatmeal

Mix and boil sugar, butter/margarine, cocoa & milk for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add vanilla, peanut butter, oatmeal & nuts. Mix well. Spoon by spoonfuls onto wax paper.

*Work quickly as mixture will start to thicken in a hurry.

I've tried both quick-cook and old fashioned oatmeal with these cookies and been sucessful & unsucessful with both. So I guess it's a toss up. I used old fashioned this year.

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