Recipe: Sugar Cookies

With Christmas just around the corner, it only seems appropriate to share our favourite sugar cookie recipe. I found the recipe over here and after making them for countless parties and holidays, I can say it is tried and true. These cookies never disappoint and are so soft and delicious. They truly converted me to loving sugar cookies, so much that I make sure to send most of them home with friends to avoid eating them all in one sitting. Here's what we do:

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream soft butter and sugar in mixer until smooth. Add vanilla and egg. Mix. Combine flour and baking powder before adding to wet mixture. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until stiff, then remove from mixer and finish kneading by hand. Dough does not need to be chilled (however it can be if you need to make it in advance). Roll to desired thickness, cut and bake for 6-8 minutes depending on the oven. Let cool and frost with royal icing. 

Tip for royal icing: I use two egg whites when I make my icing and the juice of one fresh lemon. In order to get the consistency I want, I slowly add water and stir after the initial mixing is done. Separate into bowls, add food color and pour into a container that has a screw on tip. I prefer the wide mouth Wilton ones from Michael's. Different tip sizes will allow you to alter your details on your cookies. Tooth picks are also very helpful for moving icing where you want it to go. Last thing, patience! Decorating cookies is not for the impatient.

Unicorn Encore

You can't let a birthday go by without one more celebration. Every day is a celebration and yesterday was no different. I spent my day answering the question "when is everyone coming over for my birthday?" and trying to stay cool as she changed her outfit three different times. We tinted her hair pink with this hair tint and at 6pm our family gathered in our half-packed home to make her feel loved. We re-used our bright, adorable glam fete banner and grabbed a few more unicorn plates from Target. One more batch of unicorn cookies was in order and we went all out with a rainbow DQ ice cream cake. Anyone else love those as much as me? That's when you know it's a good birthday.

The girls have been riding out the sugar high all day. It didn't help that I was too exhausted to put away the bowls of Sophia's favorite candy that they have been dipping their hands in all day. She was given gifts perfect for her; ones that kept her entertained along with the candy. Unicorn poop, "Spirit" and lip smackers were a major hit for this four year old and her little sister. Lucy is really into the lip smackers, rocking a killer lip chap moustache whenever I turn my back. I'm always grateful when people come together to make my girls feel important. I hope they always surround themselves with people who lift them higher and make the special days, extra special. They are my everything!

Recipe: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last year one of my goals for the year was to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. We all have our preferences but to me the best kind of chocolate chip cookie is a flat, chewy one. In 2017 I tried at least a dozen different recipes, consumed more cookie dough than I would like to admit and we ended up the year feeling defeated. It was a few days into the new year that I found this recipe somewhere on pinterest, tweaked it a touch and found our new go-to recipe. We've made at least four batches of them and they don't last more than a couple days around here. Even my Dad, who often finds something wrong with what I make has no complaints.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup semi-melted butter

1 cup brown sugar 

¾ cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 ¾ - 2 cups flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix. Add baking soda and salt. Mix. Add flour and chocolate chips. Mix. If 1 ¾ cup of flour is not enough (i.e. batter is still super wet) add more flour. If the batter is too sticky, the cookies will be flatter than pancakes. Still delicious, but too flat. Bake at 350 degrees until edges are golden brown. The middle will still appear soft and will sink in perfectly while cooling. Try not to eat them all in one sitting!