Today I’d like to introduce you all to my witty friend Melanie from MBAMamaMusings. She is fantastic in the kitchen, a joy to be close to and will always keep me on my toes. Today Melanie is sharing her Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies recipe with us all.
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For every holiday but Christmas, the Master Seamstress would make sugar cookies. I remember regularly taking pink hearts to school for the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, green shamrocks for St. Patrick’s, orange pumpkins for Hallowe’en. They were always beautifully decorated and one was enough for my Holly Hobby lunch box.
After making them for my own kids for a few years, I realized that it truly was the icing and decorations that make the cookie. The actual un-iced cookie? Not that terribly appetizing. Thankfully, there have been a plethora of holidays to perfect my own sugar cookie recipe, along with a few tricks for ensuring they turn out just right.
This is trick number one. Swap out half of the white sugar for maple sugar. If you can’t get your hands on maple sugar, you will assuredly be sad, but know that light brown sugar will do in a pinch. Either of these sugars actually give the cookie some flavour. I do not recommend changing out all of the white sugar for maple or brown – it changes the texture too much and results in a much crispier cookie. The second trick is to use a healthy dose of vanilla bean paste. The combination of these two will elevate your humble sugar cookie, I promise.
When cutting out your sugar cookies, cut them as close together as possible, reducing the re-rolling and handling of the dough.
And while we are on the topic of rolling, don’t make them too thin. These bake at 350 F, they will have ample opportunity to dry out if you roll them too thin. I recommend about a pencil’s height.
Sugar cookie dough needs – NEEDS – to be chilled. Most recipes recommend chilling the dough before rolling it, then cutting and baking. This means you will have to warm your dough up enough to cut it out, then bake it, pretty much defeating the purpose of having chilled it in the first place. Instead, roll the dough, cut the cookies, and chill the entire pan. Right now, I can set them in my garage for an hour. In warmer climates and seasons, the freezer works just as well.
Finally, the icing. Unless you have infinite counter space and storage containers, you are going to need to stack these little babies up. Squirting 2 teaspoons of corn syrup into your icing and allowing the sugar cookie to air dry completely before boxing them up should do the trick. Do not put them in the fridge. If you are making them ahead to freeze, you can do so without icing them. Simply thaw before icing. If the weather turns humid, place a piece of wax paper between each layer of cookies to keep them from become one giant mass.
Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup maple or light brown sugar (packed)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
PREPARATION
- Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy
- Combine dry ingredients and slowly incorporate.
- Roll out dough and cut into shapes
- Place raw cookies on lined cookie sheet and chill 1 hour
- Bake in a 350 F oven 12-15 minutes, or until the underside of the cookie is barely golden
ICING INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup sifted icing/confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp corn syrup
- Food colouring, as desired
ICING PREPARATION
- Thoroughly mix ingredients together and allow to sit 5-10 minutes
- Generously spread each cookie with icing and decorate with sprinkles as desired.
- Allow icing to completely dry before packing in an air tight container
- Will keep on the counter up to one week
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup maple or light brown sugar (packed)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Icing:
- 1 cup sifted icing/confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp corn syrup
- Food colouring, as desired
- Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy
- Combine dry ingredients and slowly incorporate.
- Roll out dough and cut into shapes
- Place raw cookies on lined cookie sheet and chill 1 hour
- Bake in a 350 F oven 12-15 minutes, or until the underside of the cookie is barely golden
- Icing:
- Thoroughly mix ingredients together and allow to sit 5-10 minutes
- Generously spread each cookie with icing and decorate with sprinkles as desired.
- Allow icing to completely dry before packing in an air tight container
- Will keep on the counter up to one week
Melanie has four children (whose names all conveniently start with ‘E’), two fat cats, and one lazy old pug, not to mention a tall and amazing husband. Just over eight years ago, she traded in her heels and briefcase for a rolling pin and laptop. She hasn’t looked back since.
Just now trying yhe cookie recipe