C is for cookie…

Evie and I made a mess in the kitchen while making cookies. Sure the flour flying everywhere may have made me want to cringe a little, but it was all worth it. Evie is a hands on learner and loves to be involved so when I started making cookies of course she was right on in there. The following morning, when I was gone to work, she remembered that they had been on the counter cooling down. Jason had her help put them away in the cookie jar for me. Some were tossed in with a bit of force, others places gently, and of course one had to be taste tested. Now if only I could remember to pull out her little apron next time we bake something. I wanted to share my favourite sugar cookie recipe with all of you. I have finally found one where the cookies taste great, and actually keep their shape when baking. There is a trick to that, oh how I wish I had known this trick earlier in my life when I first started baking.

Sugar Cookie Recipe for Cookie Cutters

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1¼ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups of flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• colored sugars for decorating

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until it’s fluffy. About a minute or two. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, almond extract and mix until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Make sure your flour measurements are precise as this does make a different for the cookies. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until it is combined.
3. Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface, and cut out your cookie shapes. Place the shapes on a cookie sheet and pop those into the fridge for an 30 minutes to an hour. If in a hurry pop them into the freezer to chill.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely. Depending on cookie cutter size this recipe makes about 40 cookies. Once the cookies are cool you can ice them.

Putting the cookies into the fridge or freezer to chill has kept the dough from puffing up and the cookies loosing their shape when baking. Instead of puffy marshmallow shaped cookies, you get perfect crisp cut out shapes. I am going to be starting my holiday baking soon, and sugar cookies are definitely on my list.

 Follow along over at Facebook, and Instagram to see what we get up, and stay more up to date with Discovering Parenthood. We’d love to have you over there too.