Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies

Last week I posted the directions on how to make a Heart-Shaped Cookie Box.

This week, for Valentine's Day I am continuing the theme of sugar cookies.

There are so many fun ways to decorate sugar cookies, but for a simple and fast cookie, just frost with a buttercream frosting and decorate with sprinkles.




Kids love to decorate their own cookies.

I love to dip half of a heart-shaped sugar cookie in melted chocolate and then sprinkle the chocolate side with chopped nuts.  Yum!

Enjoy the holiday!



*Basic Sugar Dough Recipe

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla.  Mix.  Stir in flour and salt.


The dough will look very dry but do not worry, you can easily form a ball with your hands.

Scoop up a bit of the dough.  Roll to desired thickness (1/8 inch).  There is no need to use flour when rolling.  Use parchment paper if you want an easy clean up.  Cut desired shapes.  Place all of the cut-out shapes on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies in 350 degree oven for 6-8 minutes.  (Larger and thicker cookies will take longer). They should be slightly brown around the edges.

Cool.

Frost  with desired frosting.  I prefer the flavor of a good buttercream icing.

Buttercream Icing

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1-2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients together.  Add milk to reach desired spreading consistency.



If you want a more professional looking cookie, try the recipe below.

*Cookie Icing

4 cups confectioner sugar
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla (or other flavoring)

This recipe makes a lot of icing.  This is particularly good if you want to practice on a few cookies.  If you do not like a lot of icing or you do not plan to use a lot of different colors, then just use half of this recipe.

To outline the cookies, add 4-6 Tablespoons confectioner sugar to 1 cup icing to thicken.  Place in a decorating bag or use a plastic sandwich bag with one of the corners cut off to create a tiny hole for the icing to escape as you outline the edge of the cookie.

After outlining the edges of the cookies, flood the interior of the cookie with regular icing.  (The thicker icing on the edges will stop the icing from going over the sides)  (The icing can be thinned with a little more milk if it seems too thick to move easily on the top of the cookie.)  You could also place this icing in a plastic bag and then cut off a slightly larger corner.  It makes it easier to flood the cookie.

*Recipes - Toba Garrett