The Perfect Sugar Cookie (and party!)

Sugar cookies. What do you think when you hear that word? To be honest, I used to think, "mehh a cookie that takes a lot of effort with little result." Well, I think after this baking experience my perspective may have changed a little bit. I found a recipe that results in a soft, chewy, tasty (it's true!) cookie that is not too delicate to decorate. 

Also, I had our youth girls over to decorate! I went ahead and made the cookies, and set up a table so they could do the fun part and decorate. They definitely enjoyed it, as you'll see!

Here's my take: 

In a large bowl, cream together softened butter and sugar until smooth. 

Next, beat in 4 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp of almond and the zest of an orange (or clementine, that's what I used) I also squeezed in some of the juice. The almond and zest is what is going to give your sugar cookie flavor! It won't be overpoweringly citrusy, trust me.

Stir in 5 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tsp baking powder. You dough will probably be similar to the consistency of a pie crust.

Keep folding until dry ingredients are combined. You may even want to use your hands, like you would dough for a pie crust. 

Place your dough in saran wrap....

Wrap up and place in the fridge for AT LEAST 1 hour. When removing, allow it to sit for 5 min before working with it.

While your dough is chilling, get your work space ready. I think one trick to a stress-free sugar cookie is having everything prepared to go! Get a large baking pan and place parchment paper down. This will guarantee no sticking! 

After your hour is up, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Have your cookie cutters ready, and wax (or parchment) paper down on your workspace. Put some flour down too. You don't want your dough to stick..no good!

This isn't a step, I just thought it was kinda a cool picture. :)

Okay, so cut a slice of your dough off, powder the top with flour and powder your rolling pin. 

I prefer my cookies about this thick. I don't know the measurements, but I'd guess about 1/4 inch? Maybe a little less?

Pretty dough!

Cut out your shapes! Should you reuse scraps?...I did! 

So nice

Bake for 6-8 min. I found 6 min were perfect for my oven.

All baked

This recipe makes about 60 cookies (if you use similar sized cutters). I did two batches and had around 120-130 cookies.

So I covered our dining table with a cheap plastic table cloth (I knew it'd get messy!). I placed the cookies in the center and then placed dixie cups full of different colored icing around the cookies. I also circled them with sprinkles, chocolate chips, candies, and marshmallows.

See?

One awesome trick for icing is to buy the ketchup and mustard bottles and fill them with icing. They are great for details and hold a ton of icing. These would be perfect for kids! I placed the green, red, white, and yellow icing colors in the bottles and the rest in the dixie cups. 

Here's some of their art! 

Here's the link to the icing recipe I used. It made a decent amount, but I needed more so I had Shawn buy a big tub of white frosting. You can't tell which is which, but I did like the homemade icings flavor much better. If your canned icing is too thick, add a super tiny amount of milk. Mix in, then add a bit more until you get the desired consistency. 

I finished up the rest of the cookies after the girls left

Icing dries shiny and hard. Awesome! Took this batch to sunday school today and they are all gone. :)

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• zest from an orange 
• tablespoon of juice from orange
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Here's another blog that had some useful advise too!


So, maybe sugar cookies don't look as intimidating? The recipe is very simple, but it does have great texture and flavor. I know it's just a week until Christmas, but I think this recipe is worth trying. And if you have kids (or adult kids, like us :)) they will love decorating!

Today I'm using some of my frozen pumpkin (I still have 4 cups left!) to make pumpkin gingerbread cookies...I'm sure I'll have a blog up in the next few days :)

Peppermint Bark

 Peppermint bark.

Want a delicious minty treat that is extremely easy to make?

Sure you do.

It's great for gifting, cookie exchanges, or parties.

I feel like peppermint bark has gained popularity in the past few years, possibly due to the popular peppermint mocha kick that we've all been on.

Pumpkin may be the king of Autumn, but peppermint definitely takes the win for winter.

For this recipe, I started with 3 bags of dark chocolate, 3 bags of white chocolate, parchment (or wax) paper, glass bowl,  about 8 candy canes, and peppermint extract. (Not pictured, Karo corn syrup)

I feel that peppermint extract is what steps up this peppermint bark a bit. It adds extra peppermint that you may be lacking just from the candy alone.

There's two ways to crush your candies: Food processor or plastic bag and meat tenderizer/hammer. 

I opted for the old fashion way. Good way to relieve stress if you ask me! Crush to your liking. I don't want anyone to break a tooth, but I do like some bigger pieces to add texture. 

Next you need to melt your chocolate. A tip for creating beautiful shiny chocolate is to add a tsp or more of corn syrup or shortening. It will give you a gorgeous shine when your chocolate is dried.

You can melt your chocolate two ways, too! Either do 30 sec increments in the microwave (stirring between each)

Or you can do it over the stove! I don't have a double boiler, so I used a sauce pan filled half way with water and stuck my glass bowl inside. Keep stirring so your chocolate doesn't burn.

It's getting there!

Once, melted, add the corn syrup. If you want all of your peppermint bark to be, well peppermint, you can add a tsp of peppermint to your dark chocolate. I don't do this, but you could if you want!

In a pan lined with parchment or wax papper, pour your chocolate out, then use a spatula  to spread out evenly. A trick for getting out lines and bubbles is to gently drop your pan about 6 inches from the counter. You can also kind of shake the chocolate back and forth. 

Place your dark chocolate in the fridge (at least 15 min). In the mean time, repeat the same process for the white chocolate!

Once melted, add half of your candy, karo, and a tsp of peppermint extract. Stir until combined.

Take your dark chocolate spread out of the fridge and pour white chocolate on top, spreading evenly as you go. Then sprinkle remaining candy on top, gently pressing bigger pieces in so they will stick.

Pretty, huh?

Stick in the fridge for 30 min-1 hr. Take out and wait 5 min or so to cut it. This turned out pretty thick!!

Since mine was a bit thick, I cut it in smaller pieces. It's neat how it just breaks on it's own. When the bark is really cold it is very difficult to cut, even with the best knife. So that's why I advise leaving it out for 5 min plus.

So pretty. 

I bought these 20 decorative bags for $1 at target.  They were perfect for 3-4 pieces each.  So easy!

The bags came with twist ties, but I added some silver ribbon to make it more exciting. Perfect for coworkers, stocking stuffers, friends, etc. I shared this batch with my internship class!

So who says you actually have to bake to make yummy Christmas treats? You don't. Go ahead and share a piece of the holidays with those around you this week!

Next blog, the PERFECT sugar cookie recipe. Soft cookies, full of flavor (I know, sounds nothing like a sugar cookie, but trust me!)