Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Uh-Oh!!!?!?!? Sugar Cookies Part 1......


WARNING: LONG POST............OOPS! (but wait is anyway even reading this blog :) )

You know when you find the most perfect recipe, the one that you think will answer all your baking problems, the holy grail of baking? It is such a good feeling when it works out and you think okay maybe I can do these sugar cookie recipes and make them look as pretty as Sweet Sugar Belle or Bee in our Bonnet. So then you go to grab that recipe and you cannot find it!!?!?!? All of your sugar cookie dreams come crashing down! Then after some slightly psychotic searching, which you will never admit to anyone because it will clearly end with you on a psychiatrist's couch or a friend intervention (see How I Met Your Mother's intervention episode for some hilarity), you find it! Even with some questioning (hmmmm am I sure this is it) you try it out and it works woohoo. That is what happened to me with my sugar cookie recipe. I then wrote this blog entry feeling all superior and o wait........lost it again!!!! I only knew the recipe from the picture next to it and even though I didn't find the picture again I think we are back on track now! I am seriously a hot mess!

I have used various sugar cookie recipes and for some reason I have always had a hard time finding one that works well with molds and tastes good. When I made sugar cookies for my coworker's baby shower I thought I had it but while they tasted awesome they did not stay in their shape in the oven. So then I made a new sugar cookie recipe for my friend's shower and it worked out well but then alas it went MIA. I like this recipe and it is easy to work with, even when you cut the recipe in a 1/4 so I am going to stick with it!

After reading some blogs I realized that I could make a lot of cookies and freeze them to decorate for later and this made it a lot easier when I decided to make these adorable ring cookies for a girls nite/bachellerotte get together and then for a jewelry party. One of the blogs that I read (I can't remember which one!!!)mentioned that it easier to roll and cut the dough on the slip pat sheets that go in the oven so you don't have to worry about ruining the design. This cookie cutter does not have the center cut out and while I made a few with the center left in (which is a great idea if you want to put someone's initial) I liked them best looking like a ring; so I used a circle piece of one my cake writing sets but if you had a round cookie cutter that would work well too. Once the center is cut it is harder to move them so I totally suggest just rolling and cutting it on your slip pat or wax paper, really a life saver so thank you to whoever you are!

I learned a lot in decorating these cookies between the first and second time. I used my previous icing recipe, which is delicious if you add the lemon juice and easy if you don't have meringue powder around (maybe not perfect in the setting process but it works)! When I needed to thin it I used lemon juice and a little bit more mix. I discovered that Tip #21 was perfect for doing one big circle on the band, I also piped the top of the ring and then flooded it and threw some fun sprinkles and sparkles on them.

With the left over dough I made some mini cookies, hearts and shoes, that were also a big hit.

While these are not perfect and I have a long way to go I felt like this was a good start! More adventures in sugar cookies to come.........




THE BEST ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES:
(Source: All Recipes)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

- Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.



ICING:
(Source: Sheila's Cookies)

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:

- To make frosting, combine the 3 cups confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup margarine and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth, adding milk 1 tablespoon at a time until frosting has reached its desired consistency.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Beating the Heat!

Okay I have written this post twice (once last year and once again this year) but I have never posted it because BOTH times I forgot to take pictures!!!!! I am not a cook, I just don't like it and I am a vegetarian. However, even knowing this Las year I decided to throw a BBQ Memorial Day weekend on my small patio. I made enough food for a small country, seriously it was ridiculous. I don't think 1/4 of the food was eaten. However, one thing that went like hot cakes was my Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches. I am not sure if they went so quickly because it was ridiculously hot, I just love that DC is in a swamp, or because my air conditioning decided to break, or maybe it was because they were that delicious. I actually had some left over and they stayed very well in the freezer. I just made my Chocolate Chip Cookies (with minature chocolate chips) and after they cooled put some (melted because it was 1001 degrees inside my apartment) Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and froze them over nite. Even after the BBQ was over I still had a lot left but they were good for the rest of the week and a great treat just to grab out of the freezer!!

O a little tip I learned from this food extravaganza: the deep, disposable lasagna containers are awesome for cooking a ton of marinated veggies on the grill. This way I didn't have to sit there and skewer for hours!

So no picture but just imagine these cookies with an ice cream scoop size of ice cream in the middle!