Tuesday 24 November 2009

Pretty Sugar Cookies....x

I thought I had temporarily lost my cooking 'mojo', then I realised that actually I was just in holding....waiting to be allowed to cook all things Christmassy! And be allowed to tell you all about it, without seeming unbearably cheerful and mistletoey! Well it is practically December now, so I warn you now, hold on to your sleigh bells!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS........ESPECIALLY the COOKING!(me last Christmas day, up to my elbows in trifle....a happy MrsB!)

This is the recipe I used to make freezer cookies. Brilliant for impromptu (and therefore spontaneous, fun and your chance to look uber sorted!) visits over Christmas! You just take out the roll of dough, allow to soften a little and slice in 2cm thick rounds, sling in the oven......cue wafting, warm, inviting baking homey aromas!

I am in love with these! They are ridiculously easy to make, they bake a treat and can be adapted in a ma-zillion ways and most importantly they are PRETTY!(these are Martha Stewarts......Simply Gorgeous!)
So I began a little Christmas decorating in the kitchen....Put on my boys, the Christmas Crooners (Dean, Frank, Louis, Bing....first name terms!)Got out my Christmas recipes notebook and began a-googling! Now most Sugar Cookie recipes come in American measurements....
which makes me do this....chew pencils, frown and take off my shoes (to count my toes.....the maths is beyond me!) SO my dear friends, I located this lovely UK, maths-dyslexic friendly recipe! Simples!

INGREDIENTS

125g Caster Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla flavouring

150g Salted Butter, diced

225g Plain Flour, sifted


Get out the Christmas mixing bowl! Rub the butter into the flour, till it resembles bread crumbs. Add in the sugar and vanilla extract and then using your hands bring together into a ball. Done!
Now if you fancy being creative, you can add different flavourings, instead of the vanilla, and add colour! So I split my mix in half, added vanilla to one half and peppermint to another. The minty half had a few drops of red colouring added too. Hee hee!
On a well floured surface roll out your dough into a rectangle. I was not as precise about this as Ole Martha was (who advises the use of a bench scraper to make sides even....oh Lordy!) My thinking being it matters not what the ends look like, they are going to bake and be munched and it will only be two cookies that are less than perfect.

Roll out your coloured dough and place on top. Martha uses egg white as glue at this point. Again being a bit slap dash, I did not! It worked fine! I used rolled over the top of both and that did the job!
Roll up.
Wrap up. Pop in freezer. Wait. Pretend some friends have arrived, take out of freezer let soften up a little slice into 2cm thick rounds, bake in moderate oven till golden, let cool.......munch! Plan next colour/ flavour combos!
Merry Christmas BAKING!x

11 comments:

LPFish said...

yeh! does this give me permission to bring on the Christmas Cookery too? xxx love this idea lady x

LissyLou said...

Great Mrs B!!!

menopausalmusing said...

Just how pretty are those??????!!!!!!!! :O)

Mrs B said...

I knoooooooooooooooow! achingly pretty! x

Fishy-bring it on!! x

Lovely Lissy-heehee!

::cupcakesandbiscuits:: said...

I really am obsessed with cakes as the halucination conjured up by my cold-filled head was of a huge bowl filled with hundreds and thousands....ooh how cool I thought....I then noticed the fish (not you Kirsty)....that'll be a fish bowl then!?!? Silly Ali!!!!!

Am loving the cookies, I just wished I had the energy to make them. I want to feel happy "IT'S CHRISTMAS"(say that last bit as Noddy Holder from Slade)and feel better in general.
X

Rhiannon said...

wow wow wow
(though what's the betting I forget they're in the freezer....)
xx

Mrs B said...

Ali-you poor love! This cold is a stinking one isn't it! My littlest B has it and is really suffering! I am sending you get well vibes and chicken soup!

Rhiannon-I knooooooooooooooooow! That is precisely what i would do and run to the corner shop, grab a packet of chocolate digestives in a panic!!!! Then remember as I closed the door after my visitors that the dough was in the freezer!

x

Gill said...

thanks mrs b - off to try these right away!

Mrs B said...

yipeeeeeee Gill! They are great! Have colouful fun! Come back and tell me how they went! x

Gherkin said...

Ooooh they sound like the PERFECT activity for me and my 2 little ill boys to get messy with tomorrow!

Thanks for the inspiration!

Gherks x

Julian K said...

Great reading your blog ppost