Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Sugar, Sugar

Unfortunately, it's no longer appropriate to hand out pint-sized Valentines to each person in the hallway.

But I still wanted to pass along a sweet gesture to my coworkers.

And rows of heart-shaped sugar cookies topped with pink icing is always a welcome gesture.

The end result is almost better than my winning Valentine box design in third grade - a two-foot tall Hershey kiss, mounted atop a heart-shaped base (and yes, my dad may have had to use a jigsaw to help construct it).

I'm quite persnickety about sugar cookies. Here's my family's tried-and-true recipe:

Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter (leave it out until it's room temperature and soft - don't put it in the microwave to soften)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender or just an electric mixer. Combine eggs, vanilla and sugar in a separate bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Blend until well mixed. Once you're done mixing, the dough will look crumbly. Use your hands to combine the dough into a ball.

Chill dough then roll out on a floured board/sheet/counter using 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 c. sugar. Spread some of the flour/sugar mix on your rolling pin to keep it from sticking to to the dough.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 9 - 12 minutes. Be sure not to overbake. If the edges turn golden brown, you'll have crunchy cookies. I prefer mine softer, so I take them out just a bit earlier.

Frosting
Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbs softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
milk

Mix together about 2 cups powdered sugar in a bowl with about 2 tbs softened butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Pour in a touch of milk (a little bit at a time) and stir by hand.

If the consistency is too thick, add more milk. Too thin? Add more powdered sugar. Eventually you'll get the right consistency.

20 comments:

  1. how cute! they look delicious and i really want a cookie now :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks so yummy! I wish I was one of your coworkers! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh those look so yummy Jessica! I bet they totally are.. :) Will you share your recipe?? :)

    xx Love & Aloha.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I miss the elementary school days of valentines - a red doilie heart glued to a piece of paper and a single piece of chocolate was all it took to make my day.
    Now...

    Your coworkers are very lucky- those cookies look so good!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are so sweet! I love the simple days when we just all exchanged candy and cards...

    ReplyDelete
  6. those look yummy! My son loves sugar cookies! ....you even did the icing nicely LOL...I usually just slab it on BOOO I should try harder!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. please come work at my office and make ME adorable valentine yummies

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would certainly want to receive some of those cookies. Lovely gesture! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those are so sweet looking!

    Happy Valentines Day!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You wouldn't mind sending a few to California would you? :) Happy Valentines Day!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. These look sooo yummyyyy
    send them my way!

    ReplyDelete
  12. That looks so delicious and so good! And I think I have all the recipes...so i could make them tonight... :)

    clothedmuch.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. mmmm my mouth is watering looking at these photos! the cookies look delicious. and i'm glad you posted the recipe! simple sugar cookies are my favorite, and it's hard to find just the right recipe! i'm going to try yours this weekend. ~joelle

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a sweet gesture, and lucky coworkers! Happy Valentines Day!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ooh, you will be so popular in your office! :) How sweet of you.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Soo cute and sweet! I love occasionally bringing treats to co-workers too! It makes the day better for everyone. :)

    http://diamondsandtulle.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jessica... thanks for posting the recipe! :) Can't wait to try them

    xx Love & Aloha.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oooooo! I love a tried and true family recipe!!! Totally printing this out for my kitchen, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sooo thoughtful to share a family recipe. Most folks are stingy about that!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting - each one means a lot!

Related Posts with Thumbnails