Pink Frosted Sugar Cookies and Baking Tips!

I have always known that I loved baking. I grew up always experimenting with all kinds of baking. My dear mother had way too many sweets in the house when I lived there because I love to create and I don't always help with the eating of the creation. :) Maybe that's why she's loosing weight and looking great!!!!  Anyway, I came across this recipe the other day while looking for desert ideas. Jaron and I threw a baby celebration party and we aren't really fond of cakes and cupcakes. I haven't found a recipe of them that I love yet. However, he saw this recipe and said, "I want you to make that one." So if the hubby wants it, he usually gets it. Plus, who can give up an opportunity to bake because I sure can't.

I worked in a bakery for a little while and I feel like I learned a lot about baking being there. Plus, I always had my fill on sugar stuff I never made anything the whole time I was there! haha. Baking tip I'm explaining today has to do with cookies. When you bake cookies you usually need to be careful about how you bake them. If you don't mind crunchy burnt bottom cookies then overbake all you want. Most people don't like it. So here's what I learned. Say I'm making a chocolate chip cookie that is a little dense and supposed to be chewy. You want to bake until the tops are golden brown. There are a few shades of brown, but stick to the light shade and it won't disappoint. When you take the cookies out of the oven you want them to sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. A baker at my job once told me that cookies continue to bake after they come out of the oven. Taking them off of the sheet right out of the oven stops the baking. Depending on how soft or hard you want your cookie is how soon you take them off the sheet. Typically with a light brown top you want to leave them on the sheet for at least 2 minutes to finish their cycle.

Sugar cookies are entirely different. They are very dense and meant to be soft all around. You want to bake them until the BOTTOM of the cookie is a light/medium brown and after baking IMMEDIATELY take them off the sheet onto a cooling rack. This is because you never want to overbake a sugar cookie. With that tip, I introduce the recipe Jaron requested. Get the original recipe HERE.

Cookies:

6 cups all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 c. butter, at room temperature
2 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. Salt
1 1/2 c. sour cream

Frosting:

1 c. butter, room temperature

1 t. vanilla extract
4 c. powdered sugar
6 T. heavy cream
Several drops food coloring
Multi-colored Sprinkles

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat beater attached, cream the butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat at low speed until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Dough will be a bit “sticky”. Divide dough into two sections. Flatten into rectangles about 1 1/2 inches thick, then wrap with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least two hours until firm.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.

Use the plastic wrap that you chilled the dough in. Dust the top of the dough and then flip and flour the other side, keeping it on the plastic wrap. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, until pale golden. Immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Best to work in small batches while keeping the remainder of the dough chilled.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and vanilla. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Once smooth and creamy, add in heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired spreading consistency is achieved. If desired, add food coloring and beat until combined.

Once cookies have cooled completely, frost and add sprinkles. Allow frosting to set, then store in an air-tight container. Let cookies sit for several hours before serving to allow the flavors to develop.

Makes approximately: 5 to 6 dozen cookies (will vary on the thickness of the dough)

 Notes

I do not have a stand mixer so I used a hand mixer and it worked very very well. 

Leave the second half of the cookie dough in the fridge while the first half is baking. This thaws out very quickly and is very very sticky dough. It is supposed to be very very sticky so don't let that alarm you!

6 cups of flour is just the right amount of flour. NEVER over add flour into your sugar cookies. You want them to be soft and melty not like a piece of bread.