sugar cookies

good morning! i should start off with a warning that i'm on day two of a three-day juice cleanse, and i'm feeling a little loopy. starting every morning with a shot of chlorophyll (easily the most foul thing i have ever tasted) is in no way a stand-in for a nice, hot cup of coffee. i'm not doing this to try to drop weight or anything - just to be clear - but, rather, because i've been drinking beer like a sorority girl on spring break in europe.

all that said, i'm going to torture myself a bit and post some cookies i made over the weekend. a friend just got engaged (congratulations sharon!) and asked me to make cookies for her engagement party. each one got wrapped up with a little note that said, "will you be my bridesmaid?" (or groomsman, depending.) i had a lot of fun decorating them, each a little differently.








i had a moment of panic when i woke up to make them, realizing that i have tons of sugar cookie recipes and wasn't sure which would be best for this kind of decorating; i decided to go with betty crocker, always reliable, and sure enough the dough was perfect. here's the (slightly modified) recipe:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 t raspberry flavor
a couple pinches ground vanilla beans
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 t cream of tartar
1 t baking soda

a friend of sam's owns a company that makes and bottles natural flavorings, and when she heard i was a pastry chef she very generously bestowed me with a basket full of many of her offerings. i've been waiting for a chance to try them out - this summer seemed way too busy (and hot) for baking - so i subbed in raspberry flavor and ground vanilla beans. the flavor was so good that i used them in some macarons later that day, too - subtle, and REALLY raspberry, not some weird fake-tasting concoction. it can be so hard to find good, unusual flavors, and her shop has tons of them, and at super affordable prices. /end shill.

start the butter, sugar and flavor in your mixer; beat them together until nice and fluffy and white. add egg (preferably at room temperature) and mix just until combined, then add the flour, tartar and baking soda all at once until it comes together in a dough (mix as little as possible.) refrigerate for at least an hour, until the dough is nice and firm.

preheat oven to 37roll it out until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick - they'll puff up a little when they bake. i then decorated mine with fondant i dyed and some royal icing i made. voila!

hope everyone had a great weekend!

xo audrey