Valentine’s Day was one holiday I often frowned upon in previous years but since becoming a Mama I’m all for celebrating this new found love.  Mairead has had a lot of questions lately about Valentine’s Day and why we celebrate it.  I had no idea but Google revealed that Saint Valentine was quite the romantic.  And as for Cupid, I prefer Mai’s definition as “the little man who shoots people when they fall in love.”

She had me out of bed at 5am this morning demanding breakfast and by 8 o’clock we had our sleeves rolled up and we were baking cookies!  I admire my daughter’s enthusiasm for the upcoming holiday of love but because I was all for making things happen quickly this morning, there was no way I was waiting for cookie dough to chill.  Ain’t nobody got time for that!

I admit, I was willing to risk these cookies being a flop but they turned out great and I will be sticking with this recipe in the future for sure.   One thing however, when I mixed all of the ingredients it didn’t quite create a ball of dough.  I left a little note in the recipe below to help if you run into the same problem.   Nonetheless, the cookies rolled out smooth and even and once baked they kept their shape.  This royal icing dries nicely so you are not left with a gooey mess but I would not recommend stacking them on top of each other until it has completely hardened, about a day or so.

In all fairness I feel like I should recant what I said earlier…..Aaron does a pretty good job in his own I’m-not-romantic way of romancing me and usually catches me off guard on Valentine’s Day with something beautiful.  (No pressure, babe 😉 )

Now go spread some love!  God knows the world needs it.

No-Chill Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

* Makes about 24 cookies

Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softenend
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven 400 degrees.  Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, cream together butter and sugar; set aside.

In a small bowl add egg, vanilla and almond extracts; add to butter mixture and mix until well blended.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In three separate additions, mixing in between, add the flour mixture to the butter combination and mix until a dough forms.*

* I had to use my hands to help shape the dough a bit before rolling out so don’t be deterred if you find it a little crumbly.  It’s not a flop!

In 3 or 4 small batches, roll out the cookie dough onto  large sheet of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out with cookie cutters as desired and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 6 – 7 minutes.  Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Cool completely before decorating.

 

Royal Icing

Ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp milk
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Food coloring

Directions

In a small mixing bowl, combine icing sugar and milk; stir until smooth.

Add in corn syrup and vanilla extract and stir until fully incorporated.

Add food coloring and mix until fully blended.  If using several colors, divide icing in separate bowls before adding color.  And decorate!

By Three Happy Folk

Adapted from Sweet Sugar Belle