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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Lovely Inspiration - Valentine's Day Creations

I adore Valentine's Day. How about y'all?

My love of the holiday has nothing to do with the romance aspect of it. For me it's about the cute desserts, homemade Valentine's Day cards and the adorable crafts. The cute pink and red goodies with all the hearts and little cupids all over them sometimes makes me wish I was a kid again so I could be back in school giving out sweet little cards and getting tons in return. Okay, scratch that, first of all, I'm not totally in love with the chubby arrow shooting little naked guy, and I don't wish I was back in school. But I do wish I had gobs of people to whip up handmade cards for with catchy little sayings. Heck, I'm even kinda wishing I could throw a little Valentine's Day party and deck out the house in homemade decorations.

Things have been a little..hmm not necessarily crazy around here, but a little out of whack lately, so I haven't whipped up any goodies worth mentioning, but I found plenty of adorable and inspiring recipes and projects on Pinterest. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with y'all.

I had plans to head over to my new favorite photo editing site, PicMonkey and whip up a cute little photo collage of the inspiring ideas I want to share with y'all, but I discovered a newly launched site called The Inspiration Board. This is my first time trying it, but I think I'm in love! It is super easy to use with several templates, lots of frames, backgrounds and other goodies to pretty up your inspiration board. There is even a section in the goodies tab with different washi tape designs, and that stuff is all the rage right now it seems. So, if you love inspiration boards head over and create one, or a hundred yourself. I bet you'll see me sharing more in the future. They're just too cute and fun to make!

Following are the links for the projects I'm loving (in order according to placement on the inspiration board, left to right, top to bottom)

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes by Lick The Bowl Good - These remind me of two of my favorites rolled into one, red velvet cake and black bottom cupcakes.

I Dig You, a diy Valentine's goodie by The Fry Family Blog - How cute are these? Inexpensive and adorable! If you're not an M&M's fan this would also be cute with Skittles or Conversation Hearts.

Easy Sugar Cookie Glaze - Whether you whip up from scratch sugar cookies, or take the shortcut and use a mix, this glaze is a great way to dress up sugar cookies for an easy treat. (This is actually my photo and I have used this recipe many times. Be on the lookout, I'll share the recipe and more info here soon.)

You Rock My Socks DIY Valentine (with free printable) by Thirty Handmade Days - Simple to put together and absolutely adorable!

Paper Doily Envelope by Say Yes to Hoboken - All you need for this adorable little project is heart-shaped paper doilies, a sticker to seal the envelope and a cute mini card or note to go inside.

Printable Love Banner at One She Two She - This banner is simple to assemble and would make an adorable accompaniment to your other Valentine's Day decorations.

Valentine's Day Parfaits by Bee In Our Bonnet - Quick to assemble and they look rather tasty. These would make a perfect after school treat for the kiddos or an easy dessert to go with that Valentine's Day dinner. Change up the filling colors and the decorations on the cup and these would be great for many different occasions.

With the exception of the Easy Sugar Cookie Glaze, none of the images or ideas are my own. For more of the Valentine's Day ideas I love check out my Valentine's Day Pinterest board.

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