Sugar cookie | NancyC

I received some really special homemade goodies just before Christmas from my friend Lidia and her family. Her husband Rick is a co-worker of mine. Lidia is a very talented baker and cook, (and a super Pampered Chef consultant) and she had made some homemade Hot Pepper Jelly, Sweet Hot Strawberry Sauce, and Pickled Eggplant…what a treat! And in addition to that, she had put together a plate of beautifully decorated cookies…too pretty to eat! But I didn’t let that stop me. 🙂 Those cookies tasted as great as they looked!

I thought the cookie press cookies looked so cute, and I’m happy to say that Lidia is sharing her recipe with us! Cookie press cookies are not only great around the Christmas and New Year holidays, they’re perfect for other special days like Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day. They’re also a wonderful treat for tea time get-togethers and wedding or baby showers because they’re so pretty and dainty.

So, next time you want to make a really special cookie, keep Lidia’s recipe in mind!

LIDIA’S COOKIE PRESS SUGAR COOKIES

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream shortening, butter, and sugar, blending well. Add egg and almond extract to mixture and cream some more until well blended. In another bowl, mix flour and salt together, then add to the butter mixture. Fill your cookie press with the dough and press out cookie shapes onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes. Makes about 60 cookies.

After the cookies cool, you can have fun decorating them with your favorite decorating frostings and sprinkles. This little Christmas tree was one of my favorites. Have fun making these!

And thanks for sharing your recipe, Lidia!

ncElizSugCook1a

Brian is one of my co-workers and friends, and his wife Elizabeth is a really great baker and cook. She made these sugar cookies for an open house we had at work, and they were so cute and delicious! The cookies had a great texture, and the icing was just right…not too heavy, not too light. I asked Brian if Elizabeth would want to share her recipe on LRElizSugCook1 my blog, and I’m so glad she did! Here’s the recipe if you want to try making them. They’re a great sugar cookie to make at Christmas or any other holiday…or just whenever you’re craving a good sugar cookie! She found the recipes for the cookies and icing over at Allrecipes.com. Thanks, Elizabeth, for sharing your source for these yummy recipes!

THE BEST ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES (from Allrecipes; makes 5 dozen)

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely before adding icing.

SUGAR COOKIE ICING (from Allrecipes; this recipe frosts 1 dozen cookies, so you’ll need to multiply this by 5 for 5 dozen cookies)

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring
confectioners’ sugar for decorating (or your favorite sprinkles)

In a small bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip completely cooled cookies in icing, or paint them with a brush.

Here are some photos Brian took of Elizabeth’s cookie-making process…

The cookies look great even without any frosting…

Here are some cookies that have just been dipped in the icing and are being dusted with some confectioners’ sugar…

Sprinkle the confectioners’ sugar on as light or heavy as you want…here’s how they look when the icing has set a little more…

The stockings just get partially dusted with the sugar…

And when you’re done…a nice big batch of iced cookies…as cute or cuter as you could find in a bakery!

If you’d like to see other projects Brian and his family have been up to, you’ll have to check out Brian’s blog. He’s made some really fun and creative family movies…click here to see one of my favorites!

Sharing at Cookie Plan Monday.