So, last night I realized that The Empathizer only had 1/2 a day of school, which meant The Dictator didn't have school AT ALL.
Ack!
Ugh!
OHHHH NO!!!!
What are we going to do all day??? And worse over, what are we going to do that's going to be quiet so The Deputy can sleep?!?
So I asked The Dictator what we should do. Now, some of you know my 4 year old and you know she has some of the best facial expressions and vocabulary. She looks at me very seriously and says "What's the possibility of making sugar cookies tomorrow? Cause that means frosting right?"
Yes, what IS the possibility of making sugar cookies tomorrow...well, pretty good.
(And she might have been channeling Auntie Anastasia's frosting addiction...)
And so of course this morning, even before my first cup of coffee, The Dictator starts dictating. "When are we going to make cookies?" "Where's your recipe?" (You know, cause she's gonna read it.) "Did you take butter out to soften?" (Do you suppose she spends too much time in the kitchen with me? Although, I started that a long long time ago...she's my Winter Solstice baby and she would hang out in the kitchen in her car seat on the counter all snuggled in under a blanket while I cooked and sang to her...it was when she was the most content.) "When I grow up and open a bakery, you can make these EVERYDAY...cause then there's frosting everyday!" (Yeah, she wants to open a bakery for me when she grows up...cute huh? And yeah...there's that frosting thing again.)
So I gave her the butter and the cream cheese and told her to go put them on the pellet stove to soften. (My kitchen is about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house...so we soften everything in the living room in the winter.)
She must have poked the butter about 600 times before I was like, ok, let's just get this over with.
So, this recipe is a little "backwards" as far as most any other cookie recipe goes. There is no creaming of butter and sugar, there's only 6 ingredients, and there's no eggs.
I found this recipe when I was searching for tips on how to not screw up rolled out sugar cookies. That's right folks, I can never seem to get mine to come out right. They're never the right thickness, they always spread out WAY too much, and rarely look like what they're supposed to.
And then...out of the internet heavens came this recipe, aptly titled..."The Hidden Secret to Perfect Cut-Out Sugar Cookies."
WHAT?!?
Yes!!!!! Thank you!!!
The first time I made these I couldn't believe my eyes...they were perfect, not to mention delicous.
So, a few tips...
Make sure you actually refrigerate your dough. It's going to seem stiff and on the cooler side, but it really needs 20-30 mins in the fridge.
Only use one "disc" of dough at a time. Your hands are going to warm this up significantly and will cause the dough to sort of do that blob thing to your beautiful shapes.
You don't really need to flour your counter. Just use enough on the counter and on your rolling pin so things don't stick. Think about this, when you put a layer of flour down on the counter, where does the flour go? Into whatever you're rolling out, right? The extra flour makes cookies, pie crusts, bread, etc tough and chewy.
After you've cut our your cookies and placed them on your cookie sheet, throw the whole thing into the fridge for a few minutes. This causes the cookies to firm back up and they hold their shape in the oven that much better! (I figured this out on my own...yay me!)
The Dictator (she did most of the work...hahahah) and I had a really good time making these today...I forget how precious these moments are and know that the days of "Whatever Mom...I can't eat those...I'm fat and I'm going to my room." are coming up quicker than I want to admit.
Hidden Secret Cut Outs
2 1/2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup of Superfine Sugar**
1/2 Tsp of Salt
2 Sticks (16 Tbs) of Unsalted Room Temperature Butter
2 Tbs Softened Cream Cheese
2 Tsp Vanilla
**Oh yeah baby...your sugar is SUPAH fine....ok, all joking aside...throw a cup of sugar into the blender or food processor or Mr. Preppy - have I mentioned how much I love Mr. Preppy? - and whip it up until it's well blended and feels finer than normal granulated sugar. You could probably use powdered sugar and I'm going to try that NEXT time I make these!
Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your electric mixer. (I know, backwards.) Add your butter about a tablespoon at a time while beating the mixture on a low speed. (Otherwise, you'll have flour EVERYWHERE. Not that I know that from experience or anything...)
Once all your butter is added, your "dough" will just be a dry crumbly mess. Add your cream cheese and the vanilla and beat until the dough comes together in a large mass. Don't lose faith...it WILL come together even if it doesn't seem like it will.
Turn the dough out on the counter, not a lot of flour is needed on the counter just make sure it's clean. Knead the dough together until it's a cohesive mass. Form into a loaf and cut in half. Spread a long piece of plastic wrap onto your counter and press one half of the dough into a disc on the plastic. Wrap the dough up and place in the fridge. Repeat with second lump of dough.
While your cookies are chillin' out in the fridge gather your cookie cutters. Any cookie cutter will do, but if you're going to use mini cutters (like we did) remember that the cookie time is going to be totally different from a normal size, so don't mix them on a cookie sheet or you'll have burnt cookies or way under done ones.
Get your cookie sheets prepared by lining them with parchment or slipats or silicone baking mats. I use parchment simply because I can fit more cookies on the cookie sheet because the parchment goes all the way to the edge of the sheets.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Using one disc of dough at a time, roll the dough out to about 1/8-1/4" thickness. Cut your cookies out. Remove the excess dough from around the cut outs and move the cut outs to a prepared cookie sheet. I put the whole sheet into the fridge for a few minutes to firm back up, then bake until light golden brown. There is no "true" baking time on these as your dough thickness and cookie cutter size are all variables. Let them cook for about 6 minutes before checking them, then continue to check on them until they look right to you.
Remove from the cookie sheet, let cool, frost, and enjoy!
We use just a normal buttercream frosting...royal icing tastes like well...you know. So, just beat some powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla together...tint it to whatever color you want and tada!
Well...now, doesn't that just frost your cookies?
(There aren't any pictures up of frosting or frosted cookies...basically because I was having way too much fun with the girls decorating these rather than taking pictures...but we've all seen a sugar cookie with probably too much frosting, right? Right.)
Ack!
Ugh!
OHHHH NO!!!!
What are we going to do all day??? And worse over, what are we going to do that's going to be quiet so The Deputy can sleep?!?
So I asked The Dictator what we should do. Now, some of you know my 4 year old and you know she has some of the best facial expressions and vocabulary. She looks at me very seriously and says "What's the possibility of making sugar cookies tomorrow? Cause that means frosting right?"
Yes, what IS the possibility of making sugar cookies tomorrow...well, pretty good.
(And she might have been channeling Auntie Anastasia's frosting addiction...)
And so of course this morning, even before my first cup of coffee, The Dictator starts dictating. "When are we going to make cookies?" "Where's your recipe?" (You know, cause she's gonna read it.) "Did you take butter out to soften?" (Do you suppose she spends too much time in the kitchen with me? Although, I started that a long long time ago...she's my Winter Solstice baby and she would hang out in the kitchen in her car seat on the counter all snuggled in under a blanket while I cooked and sang to her...it was when she was the most content.) "When I grow up and open a bakery, you can make these EVERYDAY...cause then there's frosting everyday!" (Yeah, she wants to open a bakery for me when she grows up...cute huh? And yeah...there's that frosting thing again.)
So I gave her the butter and the cream cheese and told her to go put them on the pellet stove to soften. (My kitchen is about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house...so we soften everything in the living room in the winter.)
She must have poked the butter about 600 times before I was like, ok, let's just get this over with.
So, this recipe is a little "backwards" as far as most any other cookie recipe goes. There is no creaming of butter and sugar, there's only 6 ingredients, and there's no eggs.
I found this recipe when I was searching for tips on how to not screw up rolled out sugar cookies. That's right folks, I can never seem to get mine to come out right. They're never the right thickness, they always spread out WAY too much, and rarely look like what they're supposed to.
And then...out of the internet heavens came this recipe, aptly titled..."The Hidden Secret to Perfect Cut-Out Sugar Cookies."
WHAT?!?
Yes!!!!! Thank you!!!
The first time I made these I couldn't believe my eyes...they were perfect, not to mention delicous.
So, a few tips...
Make sure you actually refrigerate your dough. It's going to seem stiff and on the cooler side, but it really needs 20-30 mins in the fridge.
Only use one "disc" of dough at a time. Your hands are going to warm this up significantly and will cause the dough to sort of do that blob thing to your beautiful shapes.
You don't really need to flour your counter. Just use enough on the counter and on your rolling pin so things don't stick. Think about this, when you put a layer of flour down on the counter, where does the flour go? Into whatever you're rolling out, right? The extra flour makes cookies, pie crusts, bread, etc tough and chewy.
After you've cut our your cookies and placed them on your cookie sheet, throw the whole thing into the fridge for a few minutes. This causes the cookies to firm back up and they hold their shape in the oven that much better! (I figured this out on my own...yay me!)
The Dictator (she did most of the work...hahahah) and I had a really good time making these today...I forget how precious these moments are and know that the days of "Whatever Mom...I can't eat those...I'm fat and I'm going to my room." are coming up quicker than I want to admit.
Hidden Secret Cut Outs
2 1/2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup of Superfine Sugar**
1/2 Tsp of Salt
2 Sticks (16 Tbs) of Unsalted Room Temperature Butter
2 Tbs Softened Cream Cheese
2 Tsp Vanilla
**Oh yeah baby...your sugar is SUPAH fine....ok, all joking aside...throw a cup of sugar into the blender or food processor or Mr. Preppy - have I mentioned how much I love Mr. Preppy? - and whip it up until it's well blended and feels finer than normal granulated sugar. You could probably use powdered sugar and I'm going to try that NEXT time I make these!
Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your electric mixer. (I know, backwards.) Add your butter about a tablespoon at a time while beating the mixture on a low speed. (Otherwise, you'll have flour EVERYWHERE. Not that I know that from experience or anything...)
Once all your butter is added, your "dough" will just be a dry crumbly mess. Add your cream cheese and the vanilla and beat until the dough comes together in a large mass. Don't lose faith...it WILL come together even if it doesn't seem like it will.
Turn the dough out on the counter, not a lot of flour is needed on the counter just make sure it's clean. Knead the dough together until it's a cohesive mass. Form into a loaf and cut in half. Spread a long piece of plastic wrap onto your counter and press one half of the dough into a disc on the plastic. Wrap the dough up and place in the fridge. Repeat with second lump of dough.
While your cookies are chillin' out in the fridge gather your cookie cutters. Any cookie cutter will do, but if you're going to use mini cutters (like we did) remember that the cookie time is going to be totally different from a normal size, so don't mix them on a cookie sheet or you'll have burnt cookies or way under done ones.
Get your cookie sheets prepared by lining them with parchment or slipats or silicone baking mats. I use parchment simply because I can fit more cookies on the cookie sheet because the parchment goes all the way to the edge of the sheets.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Using one disc of dough at a time, roll the dough out to about 1/8-1/4" thickness. Cut your cookies out. Remove the excess dough from around the cut outs and move the cut outs to a prepared cookie sheet. I put the whole sheet into the fridge for a few minutes to firm back up, then bake until light golden brown. There is no "true" baking time on these as your dough thickness and cookie cutter size are all variables. Let them cook for about 6 minutes before checking them, then continue to check on them until they look right to you.
Remove from the cookie sheet, let cool, frost, and enjoy!
We use just a normal buttercream frosting...royal icing tastes like well...you know. So, just beat some powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla together...tint it to whatever color you want and tada!
Well...now, doesn't that just frost your cookies?
(There aren't any pictures up of frosting or frosted cookies...basically because I was having way too much fun with the girls decorating these rather than taking pictures...but we've all seen a sugar cookie with probably too much frosting, right? Right.)