Special request for my sister in law, Autumn!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
2. 2 Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
3. 3 Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. 4 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each
   cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
   About 4 dozen cookies.

From: Hershey’s

After making a LOT of sugar cookies in the past year, I’ve been wanting to try a flavor other than regular sugar and lemon.  I’ve been looking for a new flavor but a cookie that still holds up to being rolled out, cut and decorated with royal icing. I was so happy when I came across this recipe posted on Annie’s Eats.  Chocolate sugar cookies!

This makes a small batch of dough which was perfect since I made these for absolutely no reason at all. 🙂

Dark Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated and no streaks remain.  Form the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness.  Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place cut outs on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes, just until set.  Let cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Decorate as desired.

From: Martha Stewart and Annie’s Eats

This recipe was in Every Day with Rachael Ray over a year ago.   Shania is a huge fan of Reese’s candy so I thought she might like these cookies.  I kept the magazine out for a while, intending to make them all last summer and never got around to it.  I was actually planning to make chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting today but then I remembered that I’d never made these cookies.  I can’t believe how long it took me to try them- they were so easy!

Milk Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches with Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (15 ounces) milk chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (2 for the cookie dough; 4 for the filling)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 8 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a medium, microwavable bowl, melt together 2 cups chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons butter on medium power until almost melted, about 1 1/2 minutes; stir just until smooth.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and  salt. Using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla at high speed until thickened and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in the melted chocolate at medium speed; whisk in the flour mixture. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Refrigerate the dough until firm enough to scoop, but still soft, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Onto each prepared pan, drop 12 rounded tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart. Bake, switching and rotating the pans halfway through baking, until the cookies appear bubbly and still soft, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely.  They will seem under baked but they crisp up quickly as they cool.
4. In a medium bowl, beat together the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and the peanut butter. Sift in the confectioners’ sugar; beat until fluffy. On the flat side of each of 8 cookies, spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the peanut butter mixture; sandwich with the remaining cookies.

Modified from: Every Day with Racheal Ray

In the past few months, I’ve made a lot of cut out sugar cookies (see pics below). This is the recipe that I settled on after making a few variations of the original recipe.  I am in love with this recipe. 🙂

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1  t. almond extract
• 1 ½ t. vanilla
• 1 t. salt
• 2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions
Cream butter. Add sugars. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool.

Royal Icing
Ingredients

• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 tbsp. meringue powder
• 5 tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed until the sheen has disappeared and the icing has a matte appearance (about 7-10 minutes).  Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an air-tight container.  This will be the stiffest consistency of the icing, and at this point it is still too stiff to use for decorating.  Add water a very small amount at a time and stir by hand until fully incorporated.  Continue until the icing has reached a consistency appropriate for piping.  (Remember, if you are having any difficulty piping, it is still too thick.  Add a little more liquid and try again.)  Using a pastry bag, pipe around the edges of each cookie.  Let stand so the icing will set.  Make sure to keep the leftover icing covered at all times when not in use so that it does not begin to harden.

Once all the cookies have been edged, transfer some of the remaining icing to a separate air-tight container.  Thin out by incorporating a small amount of water at a time, until the icing drips off the spoon easily when lifted and then smooths in with that still in the bowl.  If you go too far and the icing is too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it again.  Once the icing has reached the desired consistency, transfer it to a squeeze bottle (or a plastic bag with a hole in one corner), and flood the area surrounded by the piping on each cookie.  If it does not completely spread to the edges, use a toothpick to help it along.  *Allow to set.

Use the remaining thicker icing for piping decoration as desired.  Gel icing color is best as it does not add a significant amount of liquid.  Liquid food coloring can be used as well – add powdered sugar as needed to compensate for any thinning that occurs.

Here are a few pics of my recent cookie designs…

I’ve made royal icing twice before but all I did was spoon it onto regular round sugar cookies and put sprinkles on them.  I’ve been avoiding making royal icing decorated cookies like these.  Every time I would get ready to try them a little voice in my head would yell, “It’s too complicated! It’s too time consuming!”

Well, I finally did it!

And- they are time consuming but worth the effort.  Especially for a special event or occasion.  And what better occasion than to celebrate one of my dear friends, Sonya, and the impending arrival of her new baby girl? She and her husband Greg will soon welcome their second daughter into the world.  These cookies were for their baby sprinkle.

I still don’t know if I would have tried these if it weren’t for the inspiration provided by Annie, author of the amazing blog, Annie’s Eats.  She makes beautiful food and desserts and shares great tips on how to try them yourself.  Her blog is a must read. If you want to make cookies with royal icing, check out her detailed royal icing tutorial.  The only other tip I have is- get a squeeze bottle! I will never attempt to flood cookies with royal icing without one.

As much as I like to save time in the kitchen (and these do not, I repeat NOT, save time) I will definitely make these again because you have to keep practicing in order to get better at them.  I only wish I’d tried them sooner so that I could feel more confident in making them for the party.  But I am pretty happy with them, for my first attempt!  I have a few other shapes/designs in mind now so stay tuned! 🙂

White Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions:
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. *Yields ~40 cookies.

*How many cookies you will get depends on their size and thickness. I made a double batch of this recipe expecting to have about 80 cookies but only ended up with 55.

From: Annie’s Eats

Royal Icing
Ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. meringue powder
5 tbsp. water

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed until the sheen has disappeared and the icing has a matte appearance (about 7-10 minutes).  Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an air-tight container.  This will be the stiffest consistency of the icing, and at this point it is still too stiff to use for decorating.  Add water a very small amount at a time and stir by hand until fully incorporated.  Continue until the icing has reached a consistency appropriate for piping.  (Remember, if you are having any difficulty piping, it is still too thick.  Add a little more liquid and try again.)  Using a pastry bag, pipe around the edges of each cookie.  Let stand so the icing will set.  Make sure to keep the leftover icing covered at all times when not in use so that it does not begin to harden.

Once all the cookies have been edged, transfer some of the remaining icing to a separate air-tight container.  Thin out by incorporating a small amount of water at a time, until the icing drips off the spoon easily when lifted and then smooths in with that still in the bowl.  If you go too far and the icing is too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it again.  Once the icing has reached the desired consistency, transfer it to a squeeze bottle (or a plastic bag with a hole in one corner), and flood the area surrounded by the piping on each cookie.  If it does not completely spread to the edges, use a toothpick to help it along.  *Allow to set.

Use the remaining thicker icing for piping decoration as desired.  Gel icing color is best as it does not add a significant amount of liquid.  Liquid food coloring can be used as well – add powdered sugar as needed to compensate for any thinning that occurs.

From: Annie’s Eats

*I let the cookies set for 4 hours or so before adding details.  Then I let the final cookies set over night before packaging.

July 17, 2010 update!!!

I was asked to make some more onesie cookies for a boy baby shower.  The colors were blue, green, brown and white. Here’s the result!

Note: For the boy onesie cookies, I added vanilla extract to the icing to give it a little more flavor.  I will continue to test different variations of flavoring- like lemon to the cookie dough or almond to the icing.  Oh, the possibilities. 🙂

August 12, 2010 Update

Alright, after trying  this recipe several times with small changes each time, I’ve settled on my favorite version.  These slight changes resulted in cookies that were a huge hit at a recent birthday party:  I added half a cup of granulated sugar and used 1 teaspoon of almond extract and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.  I am basically in love these cookies. 🙂

Also, using lemon extract instead of almond to make lemon sugar cookies was delicious!! I didn’t have a  real lemon to use to add lemon zest but they still came out great just with the flavoring. Yum!!

Ingredients: 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt Sugar

Directions: Heat oven to 375°F. Combine brown sugar, butter and peanut butter in large bowl. Beat on medium speed until well mixed. Add egg and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets; flatten balls in criss-cross pattern with fork dipped in sugar. Bake for 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

From: Land O’Lakes