Conversation Heart Cookies

Continuing on with the Valentine's Day theme, I made some conversation heart sugar cookies. I'm a sucker for baking treats that portray a specific holiday or event. You can see where I made these sugar cookies with a Christmas theme HERE.
Making these cookies for Valentine's Day was even more fun because I got to add some of my own little phrases.

Ingredients: 

1 and 1/2 Cups Sifted Powdered Sugar

1 Cup Butter, Softened

1 Egg

2 Teaspoons Vanilla or Almond Extract

2 and 1/2 Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Desired Cookie Cutters

What you'll need for Royal Icing:
 3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 Cups Sifted Powdered Sugar
6 Tablespoons Water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream sugar, butter and egg; add flavoring. Blend in dry ingredients. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Divide dough in half, roll onto floured surface and cut as desired.

Bake on greased cookie sheet for 5-8 minutes. (Keep an eye on them, they bake quickly!)

 

Then, of course, decorate them as your heart desires. The best part, right?! 

 

Tell us about your Valentine's Day plans this year! Are you going out to dinner? Having a date night in? Seeing a movie?

Steven and I will be in Detroit for the George Strait farewell tour, and I'm so excited to take him to see a country legend, as it's our last chance to see him live. It was on Steve's bucket list to see King George in his lifetime, so I'm glad I can help cross that off his list. <3

xoxo,
Laura

Recipe: Butter Press Cookies

We have another holiday cookie recipe for you all. This week, it's butter press cookies! Our family makes these every year before the holidays. We typically make at least 8 batches so that we have them for all holiday parties, friends and family. They are also perfect for decorating and passing out as gifts. I love pairing them with coffee!

Ingredients:

2 Sticks of Butter
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Almond
3 and 1/2 Cups of Flour
1 Teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, almond and vanilla. Add the salt. Add enough flour to make dough that can be used in cookie press (not too sticky). Decorate cookies on sheet; bake 8-10 minutes.
Makes 3 dozen cookies.

xoxo,
Laura

Recipe: Frosted Sugar Cookies

We've been on a bit of a baking rampage lately, and I couldn't be happier about it. During the holiday season, there's no activity I enjoy more than playing around in the kitchen. 

This past weekend, we made frosted sugar cookies with royal icing. 

What you'll need for Cookies:

Cookie Cutters

1 and 1/2 Cups Sifted Powdered Sugar

1 Cup Butter, Softened

1 Egg

2 Teaspoons Vanilla or Almond Extract

2 and 1/2 Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

What you'll need for Royal Icing:
 3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 Cups Sifted Powdered Sugar
6 Tablespoons Water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cream sugar, butter and egg; add flavoring. Blend in dry ingredients. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Divide dough in half, roll onto floured surface and cut as desired.

Bake on greased cookie sheet for 5-8 minutes. (Keep an eye on them, they bake quickly!)

Decorate cookies as desired. This is the best part about making these cookies. You can use your creative freedom and mix up as many icing colors as you'd like. We used white, red, green, and blue. We topped with sprinkles, silver balls, and colored sugars. Have fun with it!

Happy Holidays,

Laura

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch

 

Alright you guys, Chocolate Chip Cookies are in my top five favorite desserts. I thought I would share my absolutely favorite recipe! I found this one on from In Katrina's Kitchen and it's the only one I will use now...so enjoy! It also helps that it's super easy for the cooking challenged like myself :)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup shortening (the recipe suggests using butter flavored Crisco & I approve!)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 package of chocolate chips

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside

3. Beat shortening and sugars until creamy then add eggs and extract

4. Add dry ingredients and fold in chocolate chips

5. Place on a cookie sheet

6. Bake at 350 for 9 minutes

I decided to mix it up and use my Michigan cookie cutters to add some flair. I think they turned out so adorable! Have fun with it!

 

What holiday treats are you serving up this winter?

xoxo, k