valentine's cookies

Happy Friday readers! Remember when I said back here that I was making Valentine's Day sugar cookies with my friend? Well that happened, but ditzo here forgot to write down the recipe! I will update this as soon as I get the recipe so everyone can enjoy slaving over these yummy cookies next year. I say slaving, but it was actually really fun. Stasia had the dough pretty much all made by the time I got there, so I started here, with rolling and cutting it out!

In very specific quantities, here's what you'll need:

Dough:

1. A bunch of granulated sugar.

2. Many, many sticks of Land O Lakes salted butter

3.  Flour. Lots of it.

4. Probably eggs? I'm obviously rewriting this for you when I get the real recipe. 

Icing:

1. About 12 pounds of powdered sugar (you wish I was kidding.....)

2. Almond flavoring

4. Vanilla extract, get the clear kind so it doesn't tint your dough

5. Meringue Powder. I didn't even know this stuff existed before, but it's a sub for egg whites.

6. Butter flavoring

7. Water. The only semi-healthy ingredient you'll see all day. 

Once the dough has chilled, been rolled out and cut, you'll stick them on an ungreased cookie sheet for 7 1/2 minutes at 375 degrees. Then roll, cut, repeat!

By the time we got through all the dough Stasia had prepared, we had made 225 cookies. WTF. It was awesome. Cookies were taking over her gigantic kitchen. 

Now on to the icing. The key is to make two types with different consistencies from the same batch. Start with making the "piping" icing. This is the thicker of the two that you'll use for the outline of the cookies and any words, polka dots, or other details you want to add. 

Once you've got the icing to the color you want, pour half of it in to an icing bag with a medium-sized tip. Then add more water to the rest of the icing in the bowl. This half will become your filler icing, use it after you've outlined the cookies with the piping icing. Pour the filler in to another icing bag with a smaller tip. See what I'm saying? Two different consistencies, same great color. That's the secret. Repeat until you've made all the colors of icing you want. Keep the bags of icing setting in cups (we used red beer pong cups) so the icing doesn't spill all over the place. 

Next, you decorate! Don't forget to outline with the piping, then fill with the thinner icing. Wait for the filler to dry if you want to write something (like those rose buds or the big "A"). If you want to make pretty designs (like the chevron-ish lines or the Salvador Dali hearts), don't wait for the filler to dry, hurry up and pick up a different color filler and get to work with a toothpick!

And voila! At the end you have some beautiful cookies and a hand cramp! And they'll be so pretty that no one will believe you made them yourself. All your valentines will be delighted when you show up at their door with these treats. And your co-workers will love you forever. 

Thank you Stasia for teaching me how bake and decorate these delicious sugar cookies! Can't wait until next year!