Western Sugar Cookies

I had mentioned in my previous post that I had been busy baking up a storm...and below you will find out why. I made cookies, lots and lots of Sugar Cookies to be exact. You see one of my best friends got married in Austin a couple weeks ago. Their rehearsal dinner was at the SaltLick in Driftwood, Texas (outside Austin). If you live near and haven't been...go...its soo yummy! Their BBQ is out of this world and the sauce is amazing!

Anyways the bride had told me she wanted cookies at the rehearsal and of course I jumped at the chance to help. After discussing we decided on western cookies to go with the Texas theme for the wedding weekend. She had originally wanted to use the cookies as place settings but after struggling with the seating chart for the wedding, we chose to set these on the tables as favors.

Now all of this was sounding great and then I realized the size of wedding and number of people attending the rehearsal was near 300. Inside I was freaking out but of course I told her no problem :)

A little over a week before the wedding, I started making the cookies, a batch per night. After cooling completely, I put into freezer safe Tupperware and froze them until the day I decorated them. Note: When pulling them out of freezer to decorate, allow to come to room temperature before removing from the container.

The shapes I used where: Cowboy boot & hat, cactus, longhorn, Texas, horseshoe, and lastly horse head.

Here is how my kitchen looked for several days....

This is the horses and hats drying...

Horseshoes just about done and the Texas' minus the stars.

I couldnt get this picture to load the right way...but this was the only shot I got of the finished horse, so I included it anyways!

Same here with the boots...I dont understand why the picture wont turn? Anyone know how to fix this?

The Texas's I think were my favorite...

I wrapped each cookie individually and tied with white and red ribbon. I had great plans of taking photos of this step, but it was so late when I finished...I forgot :(

I additionally have no photos of the cookies on the tables at the dinner, but I did snag a photo of a friends purse she filled for cookies for later on that night. Haha...guess they were good then huh?

And this is one of my best friends, Sharon, about to eat her cookie on the bus leaving the dinner. She will probably kill me for posting this photo...but I thought it was cute!

For the cookies I used the recipe that is originally from Bridget at Bake at 350 that I blogged about here and here. This time however I made a few changes. Instead of using almond extract I used both vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste. I just love seeing the black speckles in the cookies. I believe I used about a teaspoon of each. I know, I am sorry about not having the exact amounts but after that number of batches you sort of lose count!

For the royal icing this time I actually used Ateco Meringue Powder. I think it taste better than any of the other brands I have tried to date. Also since I didnt used almond extract with the cookies, I skipped it here too and opted for just vanilla extract. I used the recipe I blogged about here.

All in all I think these cookies turned out pretty good. It was time consuming but I had a blast doing it and learned so much along the way. I look forward to my next venture with sugar cookies and royal icing :)

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Valentine's Cookies Galore...Sugar Cookie Cut Outs, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies and White Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies

This past weekend my aunt hosted a bridal shower with a group of her friends. She asked if I could make several dozen heart shaped cookies for the shower. Rather than just making one type of cookies, I thought I would mix it up and do 3 different types. I decided on White Chocolate Chip cookies made in a heart shaped pan from Wilton that I got at Michael's, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies and lastly sugar cookie cut outs in the shapes of hearts.



I think they all turned out really cute and from what I was told they were a huge hit at the party. She said the white chocolate chip and red velvet whoopie pies were all gone! So I guess that means they were good. My boyfriend did try a whoopie pie before I packaged them all up and he loved them and is hoping I am making them again really soon!



White Chocolate Chips Heart Cookies



For the white chocolate chips heart cookies, I used my favorite chocolate chip recipe found here and replaced the chocolate chips with white chocolate chips. I grabbed about am 1 1/2 inch ball of dough and slowly pressed it into the greased heart shaped pan. Bake for about 9 minutes or until they start to puff out and are golden.





Let cool in pan for about 3 minutes then invert onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely.



Once the cookies have cooled you are decorate as you wish. I just melted pink candy coating and chocolate bark coating and drizzled over the tops of the cookies.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from Annie's Eats adapted from Dinner and Desserts originally from Better Homes and Garden, December 2008. Frosting adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Cookies:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temp

1 oz. red food coloring

Frosting for the Filling:

8 oz cream cheese

5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using a heart template or cookie cutter to trace evenly spaced hearts onto pieces of parchment paper. Place the parchment on the cookie sheets so that the side you have drawn on is facing down; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a bowl of the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add about a 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by half the buttermilk, beating each addition just until incorporated. Repeat so that all the buttermilk has been added and then mix in the final third of the dry ingredients. Do not overbeat. Blend in food coloring.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. I could not find mine so I used a smaller one, they didnt turn out as pretty as I had hoped but it worked. Next time I will make sure to find the bigger round tip.

Pipe the batter onto the parchment paper using the heart tracings as a guide. Bake 5-7 minutes or until the tops are set, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet at least 10 minutes, until they can be easily transferred to a cooling rack. Repeat with any remaining batter. Allow cookies to cool completely before proceeding.

To make the cream cheese frosting: Using the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.

Transfer the frosting to a clean pastry bag fitted with a large tip. I used the star tip but you can use the large round tip as well. Pair the cookies up by shape and size. Flip the cookies over. Pipe the frosting onto every other cookie, leaving the edges clear. Sandwich the cookies together so the flat sides of the cookies are facing each other and press gently to help the filling reach the edges. To store, refrigerate in an air tight container.

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

This was my second attempt at sugar cookies with royal icing. I am happy to report that this time was much easier and I think they turned out much better. So I guess practice does make perfect?...well not perfect but better :)

Anyways I used the same recipe I blogged about here from Bridget's Bake at 350. This time I did make the cookies a lot thicker and this seemed to help them be softer and more chewy...which I liked much better!

The dough was about 1/4 inch thick and I placed the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I used various heart shaped cookie cutters I had in a few different sizes.

I baked these for about 9-10 minutes at 350 degrees and let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

I used the same recipe for Royal Icing this time, except instead of Wilton's brand of Meringue Powder I got the one from Williams-Sonoma. I think it tasted much better, so try this one if you aren't happy with the one you currently use. For the recipe, see this post or go to Bake at 350. I doubled the recipe just so I made sure I had enough.

Once the royal icing is made, I split the icing into 4 bowls. And used my food coloring paste to get the colors I wanted, which were red, pink, black and white. I used a little water to thin out the royal icing until it was the consistency needed for piping. The remaining icing was left in the bowl until I transferred to the bottles for flooding. (When you make the icing for flooding, make sure you thin the icing out more) If it gets too thin just add more powdered sugar.

Here are my bottles used to flood the cookies.

Here are a few pictures I took as I was decorating.

I still have a lot to learn but the more I practice the more comfortable I get with it. If you want more instruction on using royal icing, I love the tips on Bake at 350 and Annie's Eats. Everyone has their own way of doing sugar cookies, you just have to figure out what works best for you!

This time I took a tip from Bridget and rather than using room temp unsalted butter I used salted cold and this made me not have to refrigerate the dough before rolling. It was so easy, try it next time. You might like it too!

Sorry this was such a lengthy post and maybe a little late for Valentine's but I was busy baking all weekend! Enjoy!

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Christmas Sugar Cookie Cut Outs with Royal Icing

I have been wanting to try sugar cookie cut outs with royal icing for some time now. I keep promising my sister I will make some for her class. Finally I got around to trying them out for Christmas. I really enjoyed working with royal icing and cant wait for the next time. The more I worked with it the easier it got (and the cuter the cookies got)!

I used the vanilla almond sugar cookie recipe from Bake at 350 as well as her royal icing recipe. I just think Bridget's cookies always turn out amazing! I definitely need lots more practice but I was pretty proud of my of first batch!

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies from Bridget at Bake at 350

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
2 sticks butter ( I used unsalted)
1 egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine all the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially at the bottom.

Roll onto a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 mins. Let sit for a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.



Royal Icing from Bridget at Bake at 350
(this will cover approx. 3 dozen 3.5 inch cookies)

1 pound powdered sugar (sifted)
5 tbsp meringue powder
scant 1/2 cup water
a few drops of extract (optional)

Combine the meringue powder and water with a whisk attachment using an electric mixer. Beat until peaks begin to form. Stir in powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. Increase speed to high until stiff peaks form. (You can remove the beater and jiggle without the peaks falling) If using an extract combine for a few seconds to incorporate.

Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing or divide and color using gel paste food coloring.
I used bottles to outline the cookies and I let them dry over night.

For flooding the cookies, I just added water till it was the consistency needed. If it gets too runny just add more powdered sugar.

The flooded cookies I let dry for several more hours before I finished and added some decorations.
I definitely started to get the feel for the icing as I went on. I can't wait to try making these again. The cookies were delicious!

All packed up in a tin and ready for Christmas!
I think the snowflakes were my favorite! Print This