Cookie Monsters

Cookie monsters...that's what we were, all 25 of us. Last week we had a little cookie decorating class in the women's organization at my church (Relief Society in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). It was taught by a darling girl (Cherie) who was so talented. She shared her recipes and also some great tips for decorating, then we each decorated 4 cookies (a bunny, egg, sheep and butterfly). You can see many of the cookies she made to demonstrate and teach us right here. Aren't they beautiful?!

Here is Cherie giving some great cookie decorating advice:

Here she is again. How cute is she?

I shared my sour cream sugar cookie recipe here a while ago. Cherie's is similar. The cookies tasted exactly the same to me, but hers were easier to roll out. I know because I came right home from her class and was so excited to make them and see that I made a batch the very next day. Also, the frosting that she uses is a cream cheese frosting. I have never cared for that for cookies. I LOVE the way cream cheese frosting tastes, but I never thought it was the best consistency for decorating cookies. Hers is the exception. I think it's because it has cream cheese and butter in it. The butter makes the consistency great for spreading on cookies.

Cherie's recipes and tips:

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies (makes about 5-6 dozen cookies)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. butter (don't substitute margarine or shortening)
3 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
2 tsp. baking soda
6 1/2 c. flour

Mix all ingredients except flour. Add flour last, 1-2 cups at a time. Roll dough into 2 balls. Refrigerate about 30 minutes before rolling out. Roll out, cut out, and bake at 400* for about 8 minutes on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
2-3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Warm or soften butter and cream cheese to room temperature. Mix together until creamy. Add vanilla and mix again. Add powdered sugar to taste and thickness you want. Color as desired. Keep unused frosting in the fridge. If frosting an entire batch of cookies at once, you may want to double the recipe.

Some of Cherie's Decorating Tips:

• Use toothpicks (dip the tip in frosting to make it sticky) to pick up and apply beads, to fix piping mistakes, to add texture (see the sheep in the top photo here. For the swirls, we just used the end of a toothpick to swirl them).
• Don't bother with piping bags and homemade frosting for the decorating. It's so much easier, less messy, and just as cute if you use writing icing or frosting with tips for piping (that you can buy in any grocery store, the cake decorating aisle at Walmart, craft stores, or Williams-Sonoma). Don't use gel ones! Cake Mate and Wilton brand writing icing are available in most grocery stores).
• Print off pictures (google - Christmas Sugar Cookies, Valentine Sugar Cookies, etc) for decorating ideas
• Colored sugars add sparkle (can be bought almost anywhere you buy writing icing...see above)
• Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting.
• Allow frosting to dry completely before packaging in clear bags as gifts
• A great way to apply colored sugar to a concentrated area is with a baby food spoon.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Do you LOVE sugar cookies as much as I do? Probably not. That would be almost impossible. But, if you like them even half as much as I do, you'll love this recipe.

When I was engaged, I lived with my grandmother for a few months and a lady in her neighborhood made these delicious sour cream sugar cookies for a church women's group party. They were so good I just had to have the recipe. I knew that I would be married soon and needed to have the recipe to impress my new husband (tee hee). They were a hit with Dan then, and continue to be today with the whole family. The secret is the sour cream. The sad part is that neither I nor my grandmother wrote down the name of the lady who gave me the recipe. So I guess 25 years after the fact they are now "Karen's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies." Enjoy!

Karen's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
makes about 4 doz. depending on size of cookie cutter

Cream together:
2 C. sugar
1 C. butter flavored shortening
2 C. sour cream

Add and beat:
1 eggs
1 tea. vanilla

Stir in:
4 1/2 C. flour
1 tea. soda
1 1/2 tea. salt

Roll out on a nicely floured counter. I knead in as much more flour as it feels it needs before I roll it out. Roll to about 1/4" thick and use cookie cutters of your choice. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until done.

Cool on rack then frost. I LOVE to use buttercream frosting. Here is my recipe for that as well.

Karen and Nedra's Buttercream Frosting (I got this recipe from my mother, Nedra. I remember helping her make it as early as 5 years old. We use it on cookies and cakes. Delish!)

1 stick butter, softened
4 C. powdered sugar
1 tea. vanilla
dash of salt
1/4 C. milk (or a bit more if needed)

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Feel free to add a few tablespoons of cocoa to make chocolate frosting, a drop of mint extract for mint frosting, or even just food coloring for color.