Life-Changing Chocolate Chip Cookies

Um, guys...  This is IT.  This THE cookie recipe to END ALL OTHERS.  And I've tried all the others.  I don't know if it's the combination of cake and bread flour (cake flour being finer; bread flour ensuring it's sturdy) or the unsalted butter with coarse salt and sprinkled sea salt (drawing out the savory), or the "aging" of the dough, or what.  But this is THE last and only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need.  EVER.  EVER!!!

As written, this makes a huge batch.  That's not a problem at all because you basically keep the dough in the refrigerator - where it seriously only produces better cookies with each passing day - and make hot fresh cookies on demand.  And by demand I mean… like, twice daily.  And yeah, you might want to get your hands on some pasteurized eggs (try Whole Foods) so that you don't get sick from the dough you inevitably sneak.  Unless, of course, you're trying to cure some sort of ailment by consuming raw animal products.  If that's the case, a refrigerator full of this stuff is exactly what you need.  Just don't expect it to cure any of the illnesses it, um, causes you.  I digress...

Life-Changing Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tbsp cake flour (8.5 oz)

1 2/3 cups bread flour (8.5 oz)

1 1/4 tsp baking soda 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt (Kosher or Sea Salt)

2 1/2 sticks (1.25 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar (8 oz)

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 pounds (20 oz) bittersweet chocolate discs, chunks or feves, at least 60% cacao (see note)

Sea Salt

Place flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  Whisk together.

Mix butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add vanilla.  Reduce speed to low.  Add dry ingredients until just combined (5-10 seconds).  Mix in chocolate.  Press plastic wrap against dough - so it doesn't dry out - and refrigerate at least 24 hours.  (It still tastes great if you make a few right away… but it really does get even better each day).  

Bake at 350 after sprinkling each cookie lightly with sea salt; they are intended to be eaten warm and fresh.  If you don't already have one, you MUST get an Oxo cookie scoop - makes it so fast and easy to get perfectly even cookies.  The instructions say to use parchment paper and the friend who sent me this recipe says they're most amazing with a Silpat silicone nonstick baking sheet (on Amazon).  But I've been baking these daily and too lazy to keep up with the parchment.  Might check into the baking sheet.  [Update 6/15/16: YES, you need the baking sheet!!  Read the reviews, is a total game-changer for *all* types of cookies!!].  Anyway, the recipe says to bake 18-20 minutes but I only baked for 9.  Not sure what's up with that.  It did take me more time the day when I made the cookies straight from the refrigerator, but generally I let it sit awhile so it's easier to scoop.

Either way, these are ridiculous.  

Note:  Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate, from which this recipe was originally adapted. Valrhona feves can be found in the chocolate section (not the baking section!) of Whole Foods, or on Amazon.  Like the disks, they are outrageously expensive.  I did use them in the pictured cookies (feves) but only made half a batch.  I usually just use the Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips and it's still pretty incredible. I might try a batch with just half or 3/4 of the chocolate called for... because I love the cookie part too.  I'll let you know how it turns out if I do.

Super soft, slightly chewy, and slightly crisp.  All in one.  Somehow.

Divine, melty, dark dark chocolate.

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THE BEST (and EASY!) Sticky Pecan Rolls

My husband and I are big brunch people, and we love to try new recipes.  But there is one recipe (well, two actually) that we keep going back to - it's now to the point where we just can't have brunch without these.  Sticky, sweet, and savory my MIL's "Sticky Pecan Rolls" are seriously to die for.  Give them a try - they're easy to make and I promise you, they'll change your life.

Sticky Pecan Rolls

On the first day, you'll make a ball of dough and refrigerate it overnight:

For the ball of dough
1 pkg (1 tbsp) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter softened
1 egg
3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in your mixer bowl - wait a few minutes to make sure it foams to ensure the yeast is active.  Stir in 1/4 cup white sugar, salt, 2 tbsp butter, egg, and 2 cups flour.  Beat until smooth.  Work in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle.  Place in greased bowl.  Cover surface of dough with some shortening or butter so it doesn't dry out.  Cover with lid, cling wrap, or whatever you have.  Refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days.

On the second day, you'll roll out the dough, sprinkle the filling, roll it up, slice it, and bake it:

For the topping
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1.5 tbsp corn syrup (baking section of store)
2/3 cup pecan bits

For the filling
1/2 stick butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

Stir together all the topping ingredients except the nuts.  Spread in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle the nuts on.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the filling.  Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface so it's roughly a 15" x 9" rectangle.  Spread it with the butter.  Sprinkle it with the cinnamon-sugar.  Roll it up the long, skinny way.  Slice into 15 one-inch slices.  Place slices on top of "topping layer" in pan - no need to grease the pan.  Cover with a wet cloth and let rise in a warm place until double (up to 90 minutes).  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  Immediately invert on tray (take a cookie tray, cover the top of the pan, and flip the whole thing).

Dough is easy to roll, and your rectangle doesn't have to be perfect.

Slices of the roll sitting in the "topping" ready to rise.

Just before rising.

Risen and baked!

Inverted onto cookie tray.

Ready to pull apart individual rolls and chow down!

Chewy, sweet, savory perfection!

My favorite cookies, my favorite cause.

Now that my blog has some traffic, I want to do a post raising awareness for what I believe to be the most important cause of our time:  Slavery.  We tend to think of slavery as a demon of the past, but it's anything but.  Literally millions of people - many of whom are children - are being trafficked as we speak - as you're reading this.  It's impossible for me to enjoy the childhood I'm working so hard to give my own children when I know that thousands of children just like them - just as innocent and sweet as they are - are being horrifically victimized every single day.

We have to do something to stop this.  Anything we possibly can.  This holiday season (Christmas for our family) I have set out to raise $200 for International Justice Mission.  One of the ways I'm doing this is by having baked 7 batches of my top 5 all-time favorite cookies, dividing it all by ten, and selling ten boxes of about a half-batch's worth of cookies.  My boxes are going out today and my local list serve doesn't allow photographs in posts, so this will also help me advertise these boxes (by posting the link to this entry).  But if you're elsewhere and reading this and you feel inspired to give more this holiday season, to those who need it the most, please consider contributing to my fundraising campaign here:

https://fundraising.ijm.org/campaign/3173/Cookies-for-Justice/

My campaign page also has a video explaining what IJM is all about and how it works.  Please, please watch it!  And be sure to also "like" their Facebook page for updates on what they're accomplishing!

As for the cookies, here are my favorites with links to the recipes (except chocolate chip, which is a matter of personal preference).  Enjoy!

1. Korova (Parisian dark chocolate sea-salt cookies)
2. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (these are actually quite easy, you just need a mini muffin tin and they pop right out!  Also, I use Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups - WAY easier to unwrap and tastier too)
3. Almond Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs with Cream Cheese Frosting
4. Chewy Spicy Christmas Cookies; and
5. "Life-Changing" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Final product!

Each box actually has two of the tree cookies :)

If you want a tasty, easy recipe for thicker softer sugar-cookies, try this one.

Simply the BEST!

These are so good and SO easy, really!  You just push the PB cups into the hot cookies, let it cool, and they lift right out!

*REAL* Pumpkin Pie

Huge shout-out to my BFF Hillary for advising me to make real pumpkin pie.  Not only was it a super fun autumn activity for my toddler, but the final result is just heavenly.  Especially if you think you don't like pumpkin pie... but you "give it another chance" every year wanting to like it since it's so traditional and classic... give this recipe a shot.  Fresh roasted pumpkin tastes nothing like what you get out of can (and I did a side-by-side taste test of just the purees).  If you enjoy baking and/or if you're out to fill your children's autumn with all the seasonal magic you can, this is a project worth doing.

Autumn on your plate!

First, you will need to get a 4-6 pound "sugar" or "baking" pumpkin.  My son loooOOOoooved picking this out at the store, and we had gorgeous fall weather and foliage for our walk to and from.

So much fun picking out a "sugar" pumpkin!

Since you're going to all the trouble, might as well err on the big side.  Leftover pumpkin puree freezes well and is great to have on hand.  We used ours to make The Pioneer Woman's Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting:

Freeze the leftover puree and use it all season long in all your other favorite pumpkin recipes!

These are The Pioneer Woman's Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting.

But back to the pie story.  I let the pumpkin "hang around" for a few days because it made such a great toy for my son.  He carried it around everywhere, even slept with it at night.  He'd try to get "tools" out and tell me he was "making his pumpkin pie."  So fun.

When the time comes, you'll need to slice the pumpkin in half the long way, remove the seeds and pulp, and roast it.  To roast, just sprinkle the flesh with kosher salt and put the halves flesh-down on some parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until a paring knife can easily be inserted into and removed from the pumpkin, in various places.  Let it cool until it's manageable (about an hour).  Then scoop out the flesh and run it through a food processor.  Voila:  Your own home made roasted pumpkin puree!

Slice in half the long way, and remove seeds and pulp.

You can also toast the pumpkin seeds, if you like.
Picking the seeds out is really fun for kids, and will occupy them for awhile!

Once you have your pumpkin puree, you're ready to get baking.  I used Alton Brown's recipe but I sort of guesstimated the quantities since I can't measure ounces at home.

CRUST:

6 ounces gingrsnap cookies (I used about 1.5 cups of crumbs)
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger (spice section)
4 tbsp melted butter

FILLING:

16 ounces of pumpkin puree (I used 2 cups)
1 cup cream (half and half)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
Whipped cream to top

For the crust, pulverize the cookies with either a food processor or a mortar and pestle.  Add the sugar and ginger, either by whisk or in the same food processor.  Whisk in butter.  Press into pie dish.  It's okay if it only covers the bottom - mine did.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  

Meanwhile, heat the pumpkin puree in a saucepan.  The recipe calls for simmering until it thickens but I didn't bother since my puree was fairly thick and not really simmerable.  Add the cream, nutmeg, and salt and simmer a little more.  

In a separate bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, and egg yolk.  Add the pumpkin/cream mixture slowly and whisk until combined.  Pour into pie crust.  It will be pretty runny.  

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until the sides are set but the middle still jiggles a little when shaken.  I believe I baked for an hour.  Remove and cool for at least 3 hours, or put right into the fridge.

*Homemade whipped cream can't be beat.  If you're so inclined, all you do is put heavy whipping cream in your Kitchenaid blender and use the whisk attachment.  Add a tsp or so of vanilla and powdered sugar to taste.  Presto.    

SO.  GOOD.

Tomato ***Ecstasy***. And I Don't Even Like Tomatoes!!!!!

Shout-out to a former karate pal, now chef Christina and her amazing blog for introducing me to what is definitely among my top 10 favorite recipes of all time:  Slow Oven-Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes.  A lot of the recipes on her drool-worthy blog are too advanced for a novice-with-two-kids-under-three like me, but this one caught my eye because it looked super easy.  And because I've always wondered about the very best thing to do with the gorgeous heirloom tomatoes at our local farm stand.

Folks, this is it.  Holy cow.  I mean her blog lists suggestions for what to do with these babies after you've roasted them, but no matter;  everything not immediately frozen for winter was gobbled down like candy.  And I mean I don't even like tomatoes.  But these... these are essentially caramelized.  They're warm with chewy, sometimes crispy edges and soft middles, and they will cause an utter explosion of flavor in your mouth.  I mean this will forevermore be a late-summer staple for us, a key part of my quest to mark my children's childhoods with seasonal food-associated memories.  Give them a try, I implore you!!  Capture some of summer's strongest flavors, and freeze some for the winter - if you can resist eating them all!

Summer's Glory.

So Simple, So Easy!!

Yes, please!!!

Slow Oven-Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes

Ingredients:

4-6 Heirloom Tomatoes
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1.5 tsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Optional:  Basil to sprinkle*
Optional:  Balsamic Vinegar to drizzle*

** Her recipe said you could add other herbs or what have you, so I added these.  I don't know what the result is without them.
** I used "LiteHouse" freeze-dried basil.  I think that was great - it soaked up more of the vinegar, oil, and herbs.  Also, it's just a great way to have semi-fresh basil always on hand for salads, for those of us blasphemers.  Find it in the refrigerated area of your grocery store's produce section.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 250.  Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil for easier cleaning.  Core and slice heirloom tomatoes about 1/2 inch thick - thicker for more tomato flavor; thinner for a more chewy and caramelized experience.

Mix together olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, and salt.  Spoon over sliced tomatoes - it's okay if it's not perfect.  Sprinkle with cracked pepper and basil, drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Bake for 2 - 2.5 hours.  This recipe is very forgiving; all that happens if you leave them in too long is they become smaller and chewier.  Fine by me.  The finished-product pics I have are of a batch that got overdone.  They might have been the most delicious yet.

Alternative Uses:

• Serve bruschetta-style over toasted, buttered or olive-oiled rounds.
• Add to sauces.
• Add to sandwiches - check out the BLT on Focaccia on Christina's blog.
• Stuff inside Pillsbury Crescent rolls.
• Toss with couscous and feta, pine nuts, raisins, etc.
• Add to pasta salad.
• Bribery.
• Substitute for therapy.

Blueberry Ice Cream: You've Never Had It Before.

Unless you had it homemade.  Anything else you had was really just vanilla ice cream with blueberries.  Just look at the color!!!

I don't know how to do color enhancement.  This is real.

I can now see why it (tragically) has to be that way.  It would cost ice cream shops a fortune to really do this dish justice, because it requires a LOT of blueberries.  Still... I feel hurt.  Betrayed, even - some of my favorite places in the world have been duping me out of good food (and antioxidants)!

Making this ice cream is SO easy.  It requires three ingredients - just three!!  You do need an ice cream maker.  We have the Kitchenaid ice cream bowl attachment. Then all you do is heat the milk/cream, add a few ingredients, chill, and run it through the mixer.

You can find ice cream recipes that are more involved.  One that I do every August is Fresh Peach Ice Cream (with Marcona almonds or fresh mint and cardamom).  It is AMAZING.  But after having made this the other day - along with another SUPER easy recipe for "Crunchy Coffee Ice Cream" (to which I added "Brickle" bits by Heath and crushed oreos), I'm basically convinced that they all are.  Ice cream shops, consider yourself the most recent addition to my "I can't eat out anymore because it's too disappointing" list (well, except you Izzy's... never you).

For This Recipe (makes 6 servings):

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup sugar (in retrospect, I would reduce to 1/2 cup or maybe 3/4 cup)

1 tbsp water

2 cups half-and-half

Simmer the blueberries, sugar, and water until sugar dissolves and berries are tender.  Stir in half-and-half.  Once chilled, run through ice cream maker.

THAT'S IT PEOPLE.  And you will NEVER have it this good in the stores (or even this healthy).

For a mind-blowing twist, take some sour cream (however much you want to taste) and stir it up a bit with brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar).  Add it towards the end of ice cream processing so that it blends but doesn't get fully mixed.  You now have a creation called "Sour Cream Blueberry Brown Sugar Ice Cream."  That's my plan for next time around - it will taste AMAZING based on what I was able to do softening some of my blueberry ice cream and stirring it up with a little sour cream/brown sugar mixture.


I plan to spend the rest of the summer trying new ice cream recipes.  I'll definitely post my tastiest finds - stay tuned!

Mango-Blueberry Muffins with Lime-Almond Glaze

These.  Were.  AMAZING.

They take a little more effort than classic blueberry muffins but are well worth it.  Tangy but still sweet, unique, a bit tropical... perfect.

If you use fresh mangoes (which I did) you'll need to make sure you have 2 ripe ones on hand - the original recipe gives the option of using frozen, but I can't vouch for that since I haven't tried it.  Plus, what's better than fresh mangoes??  I recommend using "champagne mangoes" - the yellow, flatter kind.  March is really the month for mangoes; they're pretty much the only seasonal enjoyment I take at a time when I'm usually SO done with winter weather.  You can still find them right now though... try to buy them yellow and wait until they're just getting soft and having a slight bit of give.

Here's a great video on how to best cut a mango.  I find that once I slice off the two big, flat pieces, it's best to cut those into strips and then use a knife to scrape the skin off the strips.

Here's the recipe, adapted from About.Com South American Food.  It makes 21 muffins.

For the Muffins:

• 2 and 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup cubed mango, fresh or frozen (I used fresh - 2-3 mangoes)
• Juice of 1 lime (a little over 1 tbsp) - juice a fresh lime, it's worth it**
• 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (I used fresh)

For the Glaze:

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 and 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 3/4 tsp almond flavoring
• 2-3 tbsp milk or cream, depending on how thin or thick you want it
• 1-2 pinches salt
• Coconut shreds or sliced almonds for garnish, if you wish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.  Line muffin tin with paper liners.  Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.  In a blender or food processor, puree the mango with the lime juice until smooth.  Gently mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring until just barely mixed.  Toss the blueberries with 1-2 tbsp flour to coat; gently fold into batter.  Fill muffin tins 3/4 full, almost to the top.

Bake at 425 for 5 minutes, then lower temp to 350 and bake another 10.  Check for doneness; muffins should be domed on top and firm or spring back to the touch.  If not done, bake another 5 minutes until done.

Cool muffins while you make the glaze.  Melt the butter, and whisk in the powdered sugar, milk/cream, lime juice, salt, and almond extract.  To glaze, you can either place the glaze in a bowl and dunk the muffin in top down (if it's a thinner glaze) or frost like a cupcake.  We LOVED this glaze and we preferred frosting it with slightly thicker glaze.

Fresh Strawberries and Whipped Cream Cake

I know strawberries aren't in season yet (what, June is still 3 months away?) but right about this time of year I start craving the fresh flavors of spring and summer and yesterday I just had to jump the gun.

I chose this recipe because very little is added to the whipped cream to stabilize it.  Other recipes I found called for mascarpone cheese or cream cheese... I just wanted the pure, fresh flavor of berries and cream. Plus, this recipe has a great tip for stabilizing whipped cream so that you can use it in place of frosting on any cake you want.  My family's birthday tradition has long been a chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting - love that I can now make my own from scratch.

Last, I love that it uses a from-scratch butter cake.  Shortcake is so often plain and dry.  This was the perfect texture and oh-so-moist... especially after drizzling the bottom layer with the strawberry juice!

NOTE:  If you do prefer a cream cheese whipped topping with your berries and cake, Allrecipes has a very good "Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting" recipe - just omit the almond extract.  It's fantastic on chocolate cake too.

Fresh Strawberries and Whipped Cream Cake

Got rave reviews from my husband's colleague and her husband, who had us to dinner last night.

For the Butter Cake:

• 3 tbsp (approx) unsalted butter, for greasing pan
• 3 tbsp four, for dusting pan
• 1.5 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup caster "superfine" sugar (baking section - Domino's box looks like this)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup whole milk

1. Try to allow time for the butter, eggs, and milk to come to room temp.  If that's not possible you can gently nuke them in the microwave in 10 second increments, but be very careful with the eggs because they cook FAST that way.
2. Preheat oven to 350.  Using a small pastry brush and melted butter, butter bottom and sides of an 8 inch round cake tin.  Alternatively, you can use a paper towel with the butter to grease it on as well.  Line bottom of tin with non-stick baking or wax paper; butter paper and then flour bottom and sides of tin.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium-sized bowl.  Whisk to well combine, set aside.
4. In a mixer, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs and yolks, one-at-a-time, beating well after each addition.
6. Reduce the stand mixer speed to low, add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beginning with the flour and ending with the flour; beat until just combined (do not over-mix).
7. Pour batter into prepared cake tin.  Spread evenly.
8. Bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. 
9. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool in tin for 10 minutes.  Remove cake from tin and return to wire rack to cool completely.

Before baking.

After.

For the Strawberries and Cream:

• 1.25 lbs or about 20 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled (green removed) and thinly sliced
• 1/4 + 1/4 cup castor/superfine sugar (see above link)
• 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
• 1 teaspoon unflavoured gelatin (aka gelatine) - baking aisle by jell-o

1. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the strawberries and ¼-cup sugar; set aside.
2. Place two tablespoons cold water into a small-sized saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin; let soften 5 minutes.  Place saucepan over low heat, and stir until the gelatin is dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool.
3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whisk the heavy cream and the remaining ¼-cup sugar until very soft peaks form.
4. Continue to whisk, and gradually add the gelatin mixture; beat until soft peaks form.

Soft peaks.  Don't let it get too stiff.

For the Assembly:

1. Using a long serrated knife (like a bread knife) carefully cut the cake in half horizontally.
2. Place the bottom half, cut side up, on a cake stand or plate.
3. Drizzle the juice from the berries onto the cake.
4. Evenly arrange half of the strawberry slices over the bottom cake layer.  Refrigerate the remaining berries.
5. Top the strawberry layer with half of the whipped cream, leaving about a 1 inch border.
6. Place the top half of the cake, cut side down, onto the layer of strawberries and cream.
7. Top the cake with the remaining whipped cream.
8. Refrigerate the cake at least 1 hour, up to 1 day max.
9. Just before serving, top the cake with the remaining chilled strawberries.

Sliced down the middle and drizzled with fresh strawberry juices.

First layer of strawberries.

Alternate view.

First layer of whipped cream.

Ready to refrigerate until until dessert time!

SO GOOD.

Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs with Cream Cheese Frosting

Sugar cookies are what my husband (a lab guy) would call "low-yield."  They take about five times as much work as chocolate chip cookies and let's be honest:  They're not *quite* as tasty.  Even these - and these are soft and moist with a little-something-extra in the cream cheese frosting - aren't something you'd OD on like you would a batch of Life-Changing Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Still, a single sugar cookie (or two) is a perfect compliment to coffee and kids LOVE them.  Plus, they're just so festive; I feel compelled to make them on certain occasions.  Valentine's Day is the big one, but sometimes I'll get a holiday hankering for cute green-frosted trees with ornament sprinkles.  They also make good favors for bridal or baby showers, or even weddings.  Just always, always, always calculate plenty of time.

This Valentine's Day - for Miriam's 2nd Birthday

Hillary's Bridal Shower

Something blue!

Growing up I tried many sugar cookie recipes and most of them failed.  The dough was a disaster to roll out, or the cookies were dry and flavorless.  Then one Valentine's Day in college my then-just-boyfriend's perfect sister Melissa sent him THE MOST AMAZING SUGAR COOKIES EVER.  I remember trying some with Hillary and marveling that my husband's sister was apparently (somewhat unsurprisingly) as perfect as he was, and so were her cookies.  Melissa has a generous heart and has shared several fantastic recipes with me over the years.  I'm delighted to say that this was one of them.  Try them - they roll out easily, cut easily ... they take a bit of time but the work is easy (and fun!).

Soft Sugar Cookies

1.5 cups powdered sugar

2 sticks butter, minus 1 tbsp

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract (optional - double if you love almond flavor)

1 large egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar 

Mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond, and egg.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Split in half and refrigerate both halves for at least an hour but not much more (plastic wrap works great for storing in the fridge).  Working with one half at a time, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. 

Tip:  After you get it just slightly flattened but still very thick, pick it up and re-flour the surface underneath it before continuing.  If dough is particularly sticky, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, spread with hand, and flip floured portion over onto floured surface before you continue rolling.  

Roll to 1/4 inch thick which is actually sort of thick.  Cut with cookie cutters.  

Tip:  If the dough is sticking to the cutter, dip the cutter in flour.

You actually do NOT need to grease a tray if you use these amazing mats.  And they will bake more evenly too. 

Bake at 375 for 6 minutes.  You want the very, very edge to JUST be turning light brown if you look REALLY hard for it, but *NO MORE*.  Remove and cool completely before frosting.  

** The original recipe calls for two sticks, but I discovered by accident that the dough is even easier to roll if you omit 1 tbsp of butter, and the cookies are not too dry because the frosting moistens and softens them as it sets.

As for the frosting, credit Kelly with the brilliant idea of using cream cheese frosting on sugar cookies for added flavor.  Um, yes please!  Credit her with introducing me to the Sprinkles Cupcakes cream cheese frosting recipe as well.  Mmmm... I use about half cup less of powdered sugar because I prefer savory to sweet.  The original recipes is:

Sprinkles Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick butter

1 (8 oz) packaged cream cheese

3 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

(mix together)

To frost the cookies, it works best to use a butter knife and put a dollup in the middle, then gently push it out towards the edges.  Apply sprinkles before the icing has set, so that they stick well.  Once the icing has set (2 hours?) you should be able to layer the cookies on top of each other to transport them, and the cookies themselves should be softer as they absorb moisture from the frosting.  The very best flavor of the cookies will be a full day later once the moisture from the icing has softened the cookie.  They will then taste fantastic for 3-4 more days, and storing at room temp is just fine.

Enjoy!

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