Hi lovely readers! I think I've shared a recipe or two with you all before, but since I love to cook and bake, I have decided to make recipe sharing a regular feature on the blog. I'm calling it recipe of the week so I can try to motivate myself to provide a new recipe on a consistent basis, but if any of you have a better name idea, let me know!
For my first recipe, I'm sharing one of my mom's recipes that I can remember helping her make since I was barely able to see over the counter top- even with a step stool.
For the cookies you will need:
- 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
- Cookie cutters
For the icing you will need:
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Almond extract
- Food coloring- whatever colors you like!
Here's what you need to do:
1. Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, one cup at a time, and baking powder and salt until dough is consistent. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out chilled dough onto a floured surface until it is 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased or parchment lined baking sheets. Re-chill dough if it becomes difficult to work with.
3. Bake cookies for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they just start to brown at the edges, in preheated oven. Cool completely on cooling racks.
The icing is not exactly something I measure precisely. I just take a medium bowl and add in some powdered sugar. Add a bit of almond extract, then add milk until it becomes the desired consistency. This is also the time to add any food coloring you may like- you can use either paste or liquid colors. You want the finished product to be not too thick, but also not too runny. If it is too thin, it will run right off the edges of your cookies. But remember that it is icing, so it will never look like a buttercream frosting. The biggest benefit of this icing is that it hardens, so you can easily put the finished cookies into a lunchbox, or cute bags to use as gifts!
Then, it's time to frost! Be creative and use a combination of colors, sprinkles, and tools to make your cookies unique!
Well, I hope you all enjoyed the first installment of Recipe of the Week! Check in next Monday to learn how to make some yummy and guilt free sweet potato fries!
Labels: baking, From the Recipe Box, ROTW
