Sugar Cookielicious!

 

It's cookie time!  Ky came home from work the other day seeming a bit "American treat" homesick, so I surprised him with some nummy yummy sugar cookies.  It also made my little girl who was pleading to make Santa some cookies pretty darn happy.  (Not sure how Santa's going to get any cookies since my little love and big love keep asking me to bake more of the dough that I froze for the big guy!)

 

Now I've got to give it to you straight, these cookies are AWESOME.  Full disclosure though, the recipe with the Crisco is just a bit better.  The cookies puff up nice and pretty with the Crisco, and if you're not a butter enthusiast, these are just a touch more buttery than they would be with Crisco.

 

This nice thing about these cookies, is that they make about 50 per batch (awesome, right?), and whenever I've been in a "baking pinch", these have saved me from having to devote hours that I don't have to making tons of cookies for that party/event/school lunch that my exhausted, semi-brain dead self may have forgotten about.  Whew.  Also, since I usually do these as 2 inch balls, if you shrink the balls down to 1 inch, you'll have twice as many cookies, and barely any extra work.

 

First, here is the recipe as I would make it in the States:

 

Sugar Cookies

 

You'll need:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350-degrees Farenheit.
• Whip the butter and shortening for 20 seconds.
• Add the sugar and vanilla.  Whip until creamy.
• Whip in the egg yolks.
• Beat in the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.  Scraping the sides occasionally.
• Gradually beat in the flour. 
• When the dough is well mixed, shape it into 1 or 2 inch balls.
• Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet, and pop them in the oven!
• Bake for 6 minutes.
• Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. 
• Transfer to an air tight container.
• Make sure your container is air tight so that your cookies stay chewy!

Enjoy!!

American Sugar Cookies Italian Style

 

You'll need

• 250 grams butter, softened (I could only find salted)
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 125 degrees Celsius.  (I tried it at a higher temperature and it made the cookies spread too much).
• If you're kickin' it old school like me and don't have a mixer in your beautiful new abode, here's what you do: 
• Put your softened butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs into a nice big bowl.  Wash your hands thoroughly.  Dry them thoroughly.  Dive those hands in and cream that sugar baby!  Squish until it's mixed!  You'll know it's ready when everything is feeling very thoroughly mixed.
• Next, work the cream of tartar and baking soda into the creamed sugar.
• Add the flour, and work that in until it's a nice, sticky-smooth dough.
• Create 1-2 inch balls.
• Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
• Bake for 5-7 minutes.
• Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet.
• Place the cookies in an air tight container.

Enjoy!!

 

 

 

Laela wouldn't share!

 

Merry Christmas!!!

It's officially my favorite day of the year. No, I don't mean Christmas, I mean Christmas Eve. The stockings are hung, the cookies are baked, presents are wrapped, Santa's cookie tray and cup are out waiting to be filled with goodies for the big man, and somewhere, Santa is gearing up and ready to go!

For as long as I can remember, I've always loved the anticipation of Christmas morning. It's not really so much about the presents, but the surprises I have in store for my family that excites me. When I was little, I used to squirrel over to Santa's Secret Shop and make my parents stockings. Now that I'm a "grown-up", I still love making everyone stockings with little gifts that I know would make them laugh, or remind them of when they were little. For me, that's one of the main points of Christmas (besides celebrating Jesus). For 363 days a year, people are "grown-ups". This is the one time of year it's okay to be a little kid with faith in a guy in a red suit who's going to make all of your dreams come true. It's acceptable to even have dreams- which as many of you know, that is most certainly frowned upon in our "adult world". It's really funny, because even at 28 years old, I still find myself looking out the window for that little red light and listening for the bells that I heard so many years ago as a young, eager little girl awaiting Christmas morning.

No, these last few posts haven't been about sharing recipes or experiments, and honestly, I haven't been much in the mood for making anything crazy. Right now, I'm appreciating all of the wonderful people that I have in my life (especially since my little bro is home safe from the Navy), and am doing what you're supposed to be doing during the holidays...stuffing everyone full of cookies and good cheer.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!!! May all of your dreams come true!!!! (and not too many pies thrown at family members!!)

Holiday Catch Up

My life has been a total whirlwind since Thanksgiving.  My daughter has become a delightfully fun wild thing, climbing furniture, running through the house, building things, playing with her "babies", running around parks, playgrounds and children's museums- basically just being your average toddler.  For me, it's been this really wonderful, exciting experience to get to be a part of her experiencing all these awesome things for the first time, like a few weeks ago when she went down the slide on her own, giggling and squeeling the entire way down with me cheering, having a silent heart attack as she went flying down the swirly slide.  I cherish these moments, and I'm so grateful that I get to stay home and have them with her.

On the home front, I guess I owe all of you a big catch up.  This new, fast moving toddler I've got over here has kept me from being on the computer much (she bangs on the keys every time I open it in front of her, and yes, she can reach the table), which has hindered my blogging.  Here's a quick catch up of some of my food-ventures...

Thanksgiving:

 

I made WAY too much food, but hey, we ate for over a week after!  These pictures don't really do all the food justice, but I was too tired after cooking to supervise how many or what kind of photos were taken.

Christmas 2010:

This is only the beginning...but here's what I made this past weekend:

Chocolate peanut butter drop cookies, peanut butter cookies, chewy surprise cookies, ginger cookies and chocolate chip:

Ginger Cookies:

Chewy Surprise:

 

I have also made macaroons and sugar cookies, but I haven't taken photos of them yet because the macaroons aren'd chocolate dipped yet and the sugar cookies are waiting to be decorated.  Check in Wednesday for more holiday treats!