Getting Crafty

It is my humble opinion that the sweetest valentine is the one that is home made and what kind of crafty gal would I be if I didn’t have a few suggestions? Well, of course I do!

Is there anything sweeter than home baked goodies? I’m talking about those delectable chocolates, cookies, brownies or whatever your love most desires.

I am particularly fond of making beautiful sugar cookies. You can make them into beautiful bouquets, pile them onto a pretty plate, box them up in colorful tissue and a myriad of other fun things.

Here is my very favorite cookie recipe from cookie diva, Penny McConnell. Because of it’s versatility, it’s a great recipe to use with children and it requires no refrigeration! Needless to say, these would make great holiday gifts or hostess gifts for parties and everyone loved them at my cookie exchange!

Penny’s Butter Cookie Dough

Yield: 3-4 dozen cookies
Temperature: 325 degrees F

2 Cups butter, salted
2 Cups sugar, granulated
2 large eggs
4 Tablespoons pure vanilla
4 Tablespoons Almond (or other flavour) extract
6 Cups flour, all purpose
1 Tablespoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare cookie sheets with kitchen parchment.
2. In mixer bowl, mix butter with sugar until smooth. Remember to just incorporate these ingredients, do not cream until light.
3. Add all liquid ingredients to bowl. This mixture will probably curdle but the finished dough will be just fine.
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour with baking powder.
5. Add the dry ingredients all at once to the mixer bowl and process until heavy dough forms.

This is quite a soft dough so don’t be afraid to use plenty of flour rolling it out, or roll it out on parchment paper and tear away the excess dough. Then just place the parchment on your cookie sheet and pop it straight in the oven. This makes for easy clean-up!

Penny mentioned that if your cookies come out inconsistent then you’re probably not thoroughly mixing your dough. She said your cookies should look almost uncooked with the bottoms being a slightly darker blond. I rolled mine out approximately 1/4 thick and cooked them for 12 minutes a pan.

Stay tuned tomorrow and I’ll let you in on Penny’s Royal Icing and over the next few days I’ll give you some great tips on fun and clever ways to decorate your cookies!