Valentine's Sugar Cookies
Are you looking for an inexpensive gift for Valentine's? Well, who doesn't love cookies? And, you can be proud to give your significant other something you made from scratch!
From the Betty Crocker Cookies cookbook, I used the Classic Sugar Cookies Recipe to make some yummy treats! These cookies have a great crumbly crunch and the frosting adds just the right amount of sweetness to these classics.
Prepare for the Recipe
Be prepared. I always check my kitchen pantry the day before I make a cookie recipe to make sure I have everything I need. I hate to get into the mood to bake, only to find out I've run out of sugar or something critical. Unfortunately, when I made this recipe, I actually ran out of cream of tartar! A quick substitute is distilled white vinegar or lemon juice, which we happened to have both of. So crisis averted.Get Everything Out
A lot of recipes call for softened butter. I've tried to microwave the butter so many times, but just end up with a gooey mess. My tip for this is to just leave the butter out on the counter for 30-40 minutes at room temperature to soften that way. I also like to get all of my ingredients out and measured. That way, when I've used an ingredient I can put it away (so I don't accidentally put an extra serving of vanilla extract in!)
Ready to Mix
I can't make cookies without my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I have a hand mixer for things like pancakes or whipping eggs. And technically I could do this all by hand, but who has time for that? I've had this mixer for years and it will last me a lifetime...then probably Ryan's lifetime too!
Word to the wise, don't just throw everything into the mixer all at once either. It's a process of creaming the wet ingredients first, then slowly adding the dry. You could just end up with a big mess otherwise.
Chill
Yes, this recipe takes a few hours to make including the prep, bake and decorating. What I did was make the cookie dough the night before, have it chill in the fridge overnight, then make it the next morning. Allowing the dough to properly and thoroughly chill is very important, otherwise your cookies won't hold their shape.
Preheat the Oven
While your oven is preheating, take your dough out of the fridge, prepare a clean surface to roll and cut the dough. I started rolling only about half of the dough at first, then add more as needed.
Roll, Cut, Bake, Repeat
That's the process. I recommend having a bowl full of flour handy at a rolling station on a flat surface in your kitchen. I like to flour the surface I'm rolling on often to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Then cut the dough into shapes, for this season I chose heart-shaped cookie cutters, then transfer them to greased cookie sheets and put them in the preheated oven.
Transfer to Cool, Decorate
Once your cookies come out of the oven, place them on wire racks to cool completely before you decorate with icing. Your icing will run all over the place if you don't.
To make decorating easier, I first mixed the icing and then transferred it to a piping bag. You could use a spoon to spread the icing over the cookie, but I wanted to make a few designs with them.
And that's all there is to it!
Classic Sugar Cookies
- Prep60 MIN
- Total7 HR 50 MIN
- Servings55
Ingredients
Cookies
1 1/2
cups powdered sugar
1
cup butter, softened
1
teaspoon vanilla
1/2
teaspoon almond extract
1
egg
2 1/2
cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1
teaspoon baking soda
1
teaspoon cream of tartar
Frosting
3
cups powdered sugar
3
to 5 tablespoons milk
1/4
teaspoon vanilla
Food colors, if desired
Colored sugar or candy sprinkles, if desired
Steps
- 1In large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, the softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the almond extract and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Divide dough in half; shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
- 2Heat oven to 375°F.
- 3Roll each disk on lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters into desired shapes. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts at least 2 inches apart.
- 4Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
- 5In medium bowl, beat 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla with spoon until smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too stiff to spread, add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Tint with food color. Spread frosting on cooled cookies. Decorate as desired with colored sugar or candy sprinkles. Let stand about 4 hours or until frosting is set. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.
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