It's been a while since I've posted. Since then, I've harvested the garden and baked zucchini bread and made homemade salsa. But it seems strange to post about end of summer foods as the temperature hovers around 50 degrees and I dream about making stews and roasts.
Since Halloween was last week, I figured I would get back into the swing of blogging again with a simple cookie recipe that Vivi and I made. We spent the holiday upstate this year and didn't want to forget about all the kids in our apartment building in NYC. So we made goodie bags of candy, tucked a homemade cookie in each, and tied them together with tags made with the cookie cutters as stencils. We did a little ring and run throughout the building (trick!) and dropped off the sweets (treat!).
Here are the recipes (courtesy of the All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook):
Classic Sugar Cookies
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. In separate large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended. On high speed, beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On low speed, beat in eggs and vanilla, then flour mixture just until blended, scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or freeze for 2 hours..
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of dough to 1/4-inch thickness; keep remaining dough cold. With floured 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; reserve trimmings. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.
When cookies are cool, decorate cookies with the frosting. Allow frosting to dry, about 1 hour.
Ornamental Frosting
1 package(s) (16-ounce) confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoon(s) meringue powder (see note)
1/3 cup(s) warm water
Assorted food colorings
Directions
In bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat first three ingredients until blended and mixture is so stiff that knife drawn through it leaves a clean-cut path, about 5 minutes.
Tint frosting with food colorings as desired.
