I guess I'm not particularly interested in the ho-liday (Halloween hah!) The fun was over the day I got too old to trick-or-treat. So I'm going straight to the most magical time of the year. If you're with me on this one, bake some Christmas cookies, too! I'm currently making my favorite sugar cookies. And let me tell you, these are not over-baked crunchy cookies with piles of frosting and spastic sprinkles on top. No, I'm making beautiful buttery sugar cookies with a nice glaze on top. So please, if you're going to make these...do me a favor and listen to Christmas music while you work. That's the only way.
Let's gather up the ingredients!
You'll need:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup of butter, room temp.
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp baking soda
- 1.5 tsp almond extract/flavoring (vanilla works just as well!)
- about 0.5 tsp salt (I usually eyeball that)
The butter is supposed to be room temp. but I forgot to take it out of the fridge earlier. So I went with this method:
Yeah, I stuck that butter in my sports bra straps! Warmed it right up. I'm no sicko, it works...body heat works!
Also, yay butter!! :)
Okay, let's do this.
Start off by mixing your butter until it's nice and creamy. Then add in the sugar. You should have a fluffy butter-sugar party in your bowl!
Crack open your egg and mix it in there.
Smooth sweetness :) yummmmm.
Time for some almond flavoring (or vanilla, you can have whateva you likeee)
 |
| I tried almond flavoring for the first time, I usually just go for the vanilla. Smells yummy! |
After you put that in there go ahead and grab your baking soda. I sprinkle it over the top.
Mix mix mix it uppp. And toss that salt in there!
Flour time! 3 whole cups. Measuring flour is important. If you have scoopy measuring cups like me, make sure you do this: take another wooden spoon to spoon the flour into your measuring cup. If you use your measuring cup to directly scoop out the flour it will compact the flour in there, making everything too dense. Then level it off with a knife (or be ghetto like me and use body of the wooden spoon)
Mix it up until everything is combined! Have a little sample too :)
Almost finished! Time to prepare the dough for cookie cutters/baking. Here is what I like to do: take some plastic wrap and cover a cookie sheet, or cutting board. Put a portion of the dough on top. Then grab some more plastic wrap and lie it flat on top of the dough. Roll the dough out between the two sheets of plastic wrap so that you don't have a sticky dough mess. Sweet! Also, if you don't have a rolling pin like me...use a wine bottle. Also also also: if you don't usually have plastic wrap around, big ziplock baggies work (like the big freezer ones). Stick some dough in there, close it most of the way but not all the way, then roll away!
Stick em in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes...or if you're really eager the freezer works too!
Now we wait...maybe you want to preheat your oven now (350 degrees)
While we wait! Check out some pictures from today! Tom and I went on a hike in Hawaii Kai...I forgot the name of it. I think it was "something" ridge. Meh doesn't matter, it was pretty!
Such a nice view! The ocean looked so clear that it basically blended into the sky! Also, we saw two teeeeeeeny chihuahuas hiking up this trail. Impressive little guys. Imagine how many little steps they had to take to get up there! Super fit chihuahua babies!
Okay, I have waited long enough! COOKIE TIME!
I don't have any cookie cutters out here in my Honolulu home so I'm gonna get creative up in here with a little butter knife! But when you make them you should use cookie cutters.
 |
| SO Ghetto. I tried... I guess I need to get some cookie cutters. |
When they're done, let them cool completely. You don't want runny glaze everywhere...cleaning that up is no fun. And if you're in Hawaii too, I have one word for you: cockroaches.
GLAZE TIME!
This is real simple so I won't bother with pictures. You'll see once I start to glaze the cookies! Go ahead and grab this stuff from your pantry
- 2 cups powdered sugar (more or less)
- 3 tbsp honey (usually people use corn syrup but I'm kind of anti-corn syrup...so I'm trying honey)
- 3 tbsp milk (again, I use almond. But use whatever you like)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional: sprinkle of sea salt
- Food coloring--woooo colors!! :) this goes by personal preference (if you're using gel coloring, they're much stronger. Just warning you! I like them much better. It's a good investment to at least buy the primary colors so you can create any color you want!)
I'm making half the regular recipe so if you want more, double it! I feel like I always end up with way too much icing (sorry for all those random containers of icing, frosting, glaze goop in the fridge mom & dad!) so I'm being smart and cutting the recipe down. Can't afford to waste money as a broke college student!
Mix everything together. Bam. It's that easy! If your glaze is too thick, add a tiny bit more milk. If it's too thin, add a little bit of powdered sugar.
Okay, they usually look WAY prettier than this.
Like this:
Cookie cutters would help. And a little less heat (why does the weather have to be so nice right now!?) Also, honey works as a substitute for corn syrup pretty well, but corn syrup actually does make nicer glaze.
Anyways! Soak all of that goodness in. Make some cookies. Listen to some Christmas music and be happy.
Merry Octoberistmas!
Peace out & pug love.
No comments:
Post a Comment