Roll out Sugar Cookies

Well now that Christmas is over I am not baking so much. I am trying like most people to curb my sweet tooth, which can be very difficult when you write a 'Sweets' blog. So, on that note I will tell you that I am going to make some changes around here but I won't go into it right now.

I have had a few computer problems of late so that is the reason for my infrequent posts. So I am dying to share this post with you.

I did a lot of baking during the holiday period and one thing I have found that makes it all worthwhile is a good recipe. I would not bake anywhere near as much without good recipes to fall back on. And this one of my favourite cookie recipes.You see, they are soft, but firm, sweet and creamy (okay I know that sounds weird but that is how I think of them). 

I am not sure whether to call them roll out cookies, or sugar cookies or even shortbread cookies, but I think they cover all bases. You can roll them, they have sugar and they have a shortbread texture!

     

The recipe for these yummy cookies is available in many places and is called the NFSC - the no fail sugar cookie recipe...it fits them perfectly. One great thing is that this dough will hold it's shape well (with a bit of refrigeration) and the dough won't puff up in the oven - a no-no for good cookie decorators.

NFSC Recipe

http://cakecentral.com/a/no-fail-sugar-cookies

6 cups plain flour
3 tsp. baking powder

230 grams butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I have used various extracts but lemon is my favourite)
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 180oC (160oC for a fan-forced).

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. 

Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. 

Place baking paper on your baking sheets and place shapes on baking sheets. 

I tend to put my shapes back into the fridge at this point because the dough can get a bit warm when you cut shapes with it.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies.

HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Re-roll leftover and cut and bake!

You can also find the recipe here on Sweetapolita. She uses it to make cookies pops!

I have a bit of a fascination for cookies cutters and I bought these cute cutters from ebay. I think they are used in bento boxes or some thing like that but they make great cookie cutters and the kiddies can use them too.  I made these cookies for my daughters playdate and I think my girls ate most of them. 

So tell me if you like this recipe too, or if you have a different favourite recipe.

In Honour of Sandy Hook Elementary

Pudgy Princesses

Pudgy Princesses

It's funny how birthdays of your own children always come around so quick and take you by surprise. It doesn't matter that I had been thinking and prepping this birthday for a month or two before, it still crept up on me.

Now fortunately/unfortunately...depending on how you want to look at it, I have two birthdays to celebrate - 3 days apart..yes that is right, you heard me. And yes how lucky are we...both girls. Because the birthdays are so close together we decided to celebrate them with one party. But there was also the 'school' cakes too. 

But lets get to the party cake first. 

We decided to use a party venue this year and I am so glad we did! We chose Carnival Parties at Bulimba. What a fantastic place it is. I cannot recommend it enough. The children were entertained from the moment we stepped in and the place was decorated so beautifully. And the best thing of all..I got to relax and concentrate on the parts I love to do for parties, the cake and the goody bags (although they can help you out in that area too).

 

For the party we went with a pink/purple theme which is of course very 'girly'. I think our girls liked it as much as we did.

 

So for the cake we went with a castle theme which I also used on the invitations with two little girls, one in purple and one in pink, so I carried that theme through on the cake as well. 

The cake was a chocolate cake with a beautiful raspberry buttercream. I used real raspberries to make the puree for the buttercream and I love the tartness that comes through as it helps balance the sweetness of the buttercream.

The cake also had a banana cake tier with maple buttercream..yumm! The top tier of the cake and the towers and turrets are fake...I thought we had too much cake already.

 

I took the idea for this cake from a Debbie Brown book called Baby Cakes. I love this book, the designs are beautiful and I wanted to make the castle cake the first moment I saw it.

a happy little christmas to you...

I had a lot of fun this week making some little elf cupcakes for a christmas party. Here is a look....

Tardis cake made for a Dr Who fan

Made this cake in May this year for a Dr Who fan. The cake is dark chocolate mudcake with dark chocolate ganache.