Soft Sugar Cookies With Light and Fluffy Frosting – from Fake Ginger via SavorySights

The Dough

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk together.

In the bowl of a mixer combine the butter and sugar.  Cream together on medium/high until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Make sure to fully mix in each egg before adding the next.  Then add the vanilla and mix.

Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture.  Mix until everything is incorporated.

Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

Time to Bake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

When the dough has fully chilled, scoop out 1/4 cup portions and roll into a ball.  Then place the balls on the parchment lined baking sheets about 2-3 inches apart.  Then flatten the balls slightly to form disks.  Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until they are just set.  DO NOT OVERBAKE!  The edges should be just be lightly turning brown.  You do not want the cookies to get any color.  If so they will start to harden.

When the cookies are just set, remove them from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes.  Then transfer them to a wire rack to fully cool.

The Frosting

While the cookies are cooling place the confectioners’ sugar to a mixing bowl.  Add the melted butter, vanilla and milk. Whisk the mixture until smooth.  If the frosting is too hard, slowly add another tsp of milk to the mixture.  Whisk and repeat until you have the desired texture.  If you want colored frosting add the desired color to the frosting now and whisk.

Frost the cookies and add sprinkles to finish the cookies.

If the frosting starts to harden, whisk in another tsp of milk to the frosting.  This will loosen it up to all you to finish frosting the cookies.

Store in an airtight container.

These cookies are awesome! They are light and fluffy.  Plus since they are so light they just dissolve in your mouth.  The perfect cookie.

Homemade Sandies (shortbread cookies)

• 1/2 pound butter, softened (2 sticks)
• 2/3 cup sugar, plus 2 tbs more for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup flour, sifted
• 1/8 tsp salt

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Mix until it is light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and salt and mix.

Then add the flour slowly and mix until combined.  The dough may stick to your beater.  Perfectly fine.

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and knead it together.  It should come together rather easily.  No need to knead it too much.  Just enough to form a ball.  Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a floured surface.  Roll into a flat sheet about 1/4 inch thick.  Then using your favorite cookie cutter, cut it into individual cookies.  As you can see, my favorite cutter is a shot glass.  It comes in handy, what can I say.

Place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment.  Then lightly sprinkle with a little more sugar.

Place the cookies in a preheated 350 degree oven for 18-22 minutes or until the edges start to lightly brown.

Cool completely on the cookie sheet and then enjoy with your favorite cup of coffee.

These cookies are simple and delicious to make.

We scarfed down a good dozen in a matter of minutes.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 stick butter
• 6 tbs shortening
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat together the butter, shortening and sugars until creamy.  This will take a couple of minutes.  Make sure the mixture is light and fluffy before you proceed.

Slowly add the eggs one at a time.  Make sure to beat the first one in before adding the second one.  Once the eggs are fully incorporated add the vanilla.

Add flour, baking soda and salt.  I used to sift the flour and other dry ingredients together, but come on, who has time for that.  I have made this recipe both ways and it comes out great both ways.  Actually the cookies have a better texture when you do not sift the flour.  So just slowly add the flour to the mixer.

Once the flour is incorporated add the oats.   Then incorporate the chocolate chips by hand.  You can use the mixer, but it will break them up and you might end up with pieces instead of chips.

Form the dough into 1 to 1.5 tbs sized portions and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  I have found that a cookie scoop is a good investment.  They sell them in various sizes at bed bath and beyond.  Amazon also has them Cookie Scoops.  They have them in all sizes and shapes.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remember that if the top is browned the bottom will be really browned. So check the edges of the cookies to see if the cookies are done.

Cool for 1 minutes on cookie sheets then remove to a wire rack to cool.

You can also change this up and make them cinnamon raisin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with addition of 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 1/2 cups of raisins instead of chocolate chips.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

M&M^® Cookies – (From Joy of Baking)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup M&Ms ^®

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place a rack in the center of the oven.  Line a cookie sheet with either a Silpat or a sheet of parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugars until light an fluffy.  Roughly 3 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract.  Beat until combined.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture.

Form the dough into 1-2 tbs balls and place them on a cookie sheet.

Then using your hand or the flat bottom of measuring cup, gently flatten the dough balls into 2-3 inch rounds.

Cover the top of the cookies with M&M’s ^®.  Then gently press them into the tops of the cookies.

Bake the cookies for 10-14 minutes until they are lightly browned.  They will seem a little soft but they will firm up and crisp when cooled.

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

This makes about 24 cookies.
M&M ^® is a registered trademark of Mars, Incorporated.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar (1 1/4 cups granulated sugar with 1tbs molasses)
• 3/4 cup Butter Flavor Shortening
• 2 tbs milk
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 12 oz bag chocolate chips
• 4 oz chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit.

Combine the brown sugar, shortening, milk and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat on medium speed until light fluffy.

Then add the egg and beat until combined.  Sift the flour, salt and baking soda.  This is optional, but it will give you the best possible cookie. Mix the flour mixture into the creamed shortening mixture.   Once combined stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Unroll 3ft of wax paper and pour the cookie mixture onto it.  Form the cookie dough into a log and roll it up in the wax paper.  At this point you can cut the log into two and freeze or refrigerate the rest for another time.

Once you have the dough rolled up into a perfect log, cut the log into cookie sized round pieces.  I made mine about 1/2 inch thick.

Place the cookie pieces on a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet about 2-3 inches apart.

Bake in the preheated 375 degree oven until desired doneness.  Roughly 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies and 11-13 for crunchy cookies.

These cookies are awesome.  Since they are shortening based, they do not spread out as much as butter based cookies. Thus they are dense and chewy.

My favorite.

Special K Bars - (From Mom)

• 1 cup white Corn Syrup (Karo)
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter
• 6 cups Special K cereal or you can substitute Corn Flakes

Grease a 13×9 pan.

Place a large sauce pan over medium/high heat and add the corn syrup and the sugar.

Bring to rolling boil and remove from heat.

Stir in the peanut butter and the vanilla in.  Mix until smooth.

Fold  in the 6 cups of Special K or corn flakes.

Spread in greased 9×13 pan.

Let set for 15 minutes or so and then they are ready to eat.

These bars are super easy and extremely delicious.  They are a must try.

I made a small stack for the picture, you could easily down 8 of these in a sitting.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 stick of butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup br0wn sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 – 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl or the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.

When lightened in color add the eggs one by one, mixing after each addition.

On a sheet of wax paper, sift the baking soda, salt and flour together.  As always, the wax paper will help you funnel the ingredients into the mixing bowl.

The wax paper makes pouring the flour into the mixer easy.

Slowly add the flour to the mixture until combined.

Since there is so little butter in the mixture you will need to mix the oats and chocolate chips in by hand.  Make sure to stir the ingredients together.

Place teaspoon sized ball onto a greased/or parchment lined cookie sheet. Once you drop the batter onto the cookie sheet, flatten the tops so that the cookies are not round.  Due to the lack of butter, these cookie will no spread out as much.   Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 10 minutes and then remove them to a cooling rack.

The cookies were not crumbly or even too dry.  They were amazing.  Some of the best cookies I have ever eaten.

Check out the Strawberry Jam post for some super simple freezer jam.

Thumb Print Butter Cookies – (from Simply Recipes)

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup preserves or jam (I enjoy strawberry jam)

In a mixing bowl or bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter.  Make sure that the butter is at room temperature or this is really gonna get messy.

Separate two eggs to get the egg yolks.  Save the egg whites in a freezer safe dish and freeze them.  Save them for egg white omlets or whenever you need some egg whites.  Just thaw in the refrigerator over night before you need them.  Add the egg yolks and vanilla to the butter mixture.  Mix until combined.

Slowly add the flour and salt until the ingredients are just combined.  Once combined place the dough into the refrigerator and let it set up for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.  Portion the dough into tablespoon sized balls.  Place the balls on the sheet pan and press your thumb into them.  This will make the indent for the jam and give the cookies their name.  I used a 1 1/2 inch ring to make sure that all of the cookies came out round.  This is not necessary, but helps out when you want perfectly round uniform cookies.

This makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Once you have all of the cookies made fill them with a teaspoon of your favorite jam.  I prefer strawberry but Dana really enjoys apricot.  Personal preference, I will not judge.

Place the sheet pan in the middle rack of the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Cook until the cookies are slightly firm and slightly starting to brown.  Allow the cookies to cool on the pan until firm and then transfer to wire rack to completely cool.

These cookies were excellent.

They are perfectly balanced.

As you can see, I painted the eyes and mouth before the first glaze completely hardened.  Thus, giving me a not so perfect smiley face. 

Smiley Face Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups flour – plus a little more for flouring the board

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp milk
• 2 tsp light corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• food coloring

Making the Cookies

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a mixing bowl cream together the shortening and the sugar.  Once light and fluffy add the eggs one at a time.  Once the eggs are incorporated add the milk slowly.

Whip until everything is fully incorporated.  While the wet mixture is coming together sift the flour and baking powder together.

Slowly add the flour to the wet mixture.  The dough will be extremely stiff.  You may have to turn off the mixer and finish incorporating the flour by hand.

Dust the counter with flour and then turn the cookie dough out onto the counter.  Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into desired shapes and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  I wanted a large round cookie.  I could not find an appropriate sized cookie cutter so I used a cereal bowl as my die.  It worked perfectly.

Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated 400 degree oven.

Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool on the sheet for 1 minute.  Then transfer to a rack  to cool completely.

Glaze

To make the glaze, add the powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup and vanilla to a bowl.  Mix until smooth.  If you feel the mixture is too thick, add a bit more corn syrup to the mix.

If making smiley face cookies, place a little of the glaze in a separate bowl and color both portions of glaze.   Place smaller portion into a piping bag or zip top bag.  This will keep it from drying out.  Glaze the cookies with the main glaze.  You can pour it on and then use a brush to make sure the whole cookie is coated.   Let the glaze dry for 5-10 minutes and then paint on the faces with the piping bag or zip top bag.

Enjoy!!

Dream Bar #3

I used a 8×8 pan but a 9×13 pan would make these come out perfect.

Dream Bars III

• Crust
  • 6 tbs softened butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • pinch of salt
• Topping
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tbs flour
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the butter and the brown sugar.  When light and fluffy add the oats, flour and salt.  Press the crust into a 9×13 pan.  I used a 8×8 pan but the bars came out a little thick.  A 9×13 pan would make these come out perfect.

Press the crust into the pan

Place the crust in the preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes.

While the crust is blind baking, mix the eggs and brown sugar in a bowl.  Stir in 1tbs of flour and the vanilla.  Mix well.

Mix the gooey center

When the crust is done baking remove it from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes.  Make sure that it is cool to the touch, or else it will melt your chocolate chips.  Then pour half of the egg mixture over the crust.  Then cover the bars with the chocolate chips.

Make sure the crust is cooled, or else you will have a melted chocolate layer

With the remaining half of the egg mixture in the bowl, add the 1/2 cup flour, oats and baking soda.  Mix to form a semi-soft cookie dough.

Using a spoon dollop the cookie dough over the top of the bars.

Dollop the cookie onto the pan. Don't worry if you don't have enough to cover the whole dish.

Place the bars in the preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Bake until the cookie dough looks set, but is not quite browned.

I cooked mine a bit too long, I was playing megatouch in the basement and forgot I was baking. My bad.

This is my closest recipe yet.  I am almost ready to say that I have the recipe down.  I baked mine a little too long so they dried up a bit, but the flavor is spot on.  Let me know what you think.