Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you all have some wonderful plans for Valentine’s Day. I think that we will be staying in tonight and I am thinking of picking up a heart-shaped pizza. Big plans right? We have been super busy lately so a night at home with the kids sounds fun. We love a good movie night so we might do that. (Let’s wait and see how tuckered out Greg and I are by the end of the day-working, volunteering at the Valentines party and the regular chores at home.)

On Sunday we made these delicious sugar cookies. I love sugar cookies but I must admit baking cookies is my least favorite kind of cooking. It takes forever! Plus I am not good at it. I don’t have the patience to wait and wait as each pan comes out. So…once a year I make sugar cookies with my kids and this year we did them for Valentines Day.

Start with 2 cubes of butter that is softened. Add the sugar and cream  together. Add the eggs, sour cream, almond or lemon extract (I love the almond in the cookie, I have never tried the lemon), and vanilla and mix well. Add soda, salt and flour and mix on low just until combined. Roll dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 3-4 hours.

After it’s refrigerated and you’ve snacked on the beaters, roll the dough out on floured surface and cut into shapes. I used to hate this part with cookies and pies because it always seemed to stick to our counter or get too floury tasting because I was trying to avoid the stick. My sister Rachael gave me this fabulous Pastry Board that is stretched over a round board. You rub flour on it and it’s the perfect surface to roll our cookies or pastries.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets or my favorite is to put down parchment paper to make easy clean up. I have just found packages at Orson Gygi that are pre-cut to fit full sheet pan, half sheet pan and quarter sheet pan. I am loving how simple it is to pull one out of the package and place it on my pan.

As the cookies cooled we made the frosting.

You will need 1/3 cup of butter softened but not melted. Put butter in a mixing bowl and add the powdered sugar, mix slowly so you don’t make a huge cloud of powdered sugar all over your kitchen. Add milk and continue to beat. Add vanilla, almond extract and salt. If the consistency of the frosting is too thick to spread, add more milk, a teaspoon at a time until it is spreadable but not too runny. Color with food coloring if desired. We kept some of the frosting white then made some red and pink.

Let the mess decorating begin!

The cookies were very yummy and the decorators did a fantastic job. After 3 cookies were eaten by each child they were off to bed and this was what was left! The floor looks similar to the table.

Favorite Sugar Cookies

Favorites Cookbook

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon almond or lemon extract (I always use almond)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 1/4 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, almond or lemon extract and vanilla and mix well. Add soda, salt and flour and mix on low just until combined. Roll dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 3-4 hours. Roll out on floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet or on parchment paper at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Cool on racks, then frost and decorate.

Favorite Frosting

1/3 cup butter, softened but not melted
4 cups powdered sugar (about half of a 2 lb. bag)
1/4 cup milk (or more, add a teaspoon at a time to thin)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
pinch of salt

In mixing bowl, beat butter slowly with powdered sugar. Add mild and continue to beat. Add vanilla, almond extract and salt. If needed, add more milk to make frosting spreading consistency. Color with food coloring if desired.

Posted by Andrea