Valentine Cookies

I decided to make some Valentine cookies that I found the design for on the Disney Family website because I wanted to do something special for Carter and our friends. Minnie’s Polka Dot Cookies were one of the many things I found interesting on the website the other day.  I also got the idea to crochet a stuffed Perry the Platypus for Carter as well!  There were a few recipe ideas I saved from them that I will totally be trying in the future! 🙂

I didn’t use their recipe for frosting but I did use their cookies as an example. I used two different sugar cookie recipes for this. They look the same but they don’t taste the same. The first one I tried was called “The Best Rolled Sugar Cookie recipe” on allrecipes.com. I didn’t like the consistency of the dough when I tried to roll it out. Also, when I tried to roll it to 1/4″ like the recipe called for, it was entirely too thick. The cookies puffed and spread in the oven despite being cold. I rolled them to about 1/8″ and those worked much better. Unfortunately, I didn’t lower the oven temperature from 400F and some of them ended up burning because of their thinness. My experience with these was not so great but I know others that highly recommend them so I figured I would include them in this post in case anyone is looking for another sugar cookie recipe.

I changed the plan today to include making some of Alton Brown’s Sugar Cookies because it is a tried and true recipe for me and I wanted to see which were better. I am liking these better than the first ones but the real test will be when Carter gets home to taste them.

I used a really great recipe for Sugar Cookie Icing I found on allrecipes.com at Christmas. I changed it up a little because it was just not the consistency I needed. I started out with 3tsp of Corn Syrup and 3tsp of Milk. When I started out this way, I only had to add a small bit of corn syrup to it to make it perfect. I used gel food coloring to color the frosting.

The tip the Disney article gives about putting the white dots on while the red/pink is still wet is a great idea. It allows the white dots to even out with the red ones so it looks really awesome. These were really simple cookies and so much fun to make!

Pics!!
These are the Alton Brown sugar cookie recipe:

These are the first batch of cookies from the allrecipes.com recipe:

I highly recommend these. They are adorable and fairly simple if you have the time to make them! 😀

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

 

First Christmas Cookies

These are my first christmas cookies of the season! Alton Brown’s sugar cookies. They are actually very very delicious. Probably the best sugar cookies I have ever made. I didn’t make his royal icing but I had Pillsbury vanilla frosting in the spray can that I used for decorating plus a bunch of different colored sprinkles. Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

Recipe courtesy: Alton Brown
Prep Time: 15 min
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 9 min
Level: Easy
Serves: about 3 dozen-2 1/2 inch

Ingredients
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 tablespoon milk
* Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions:
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.
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