Super delicious birthday cookies

I wrote this right before Christmas but I didn't get around to uploading the pics from my camera until this week. Anyway, enjoy some belated Christmas goodies!



Just like last year, I had to make some tasty, festive sugar cookies. Unlike last year, I didn't set aside enough time to decorate them with Royal Icing. Because, as well all know, RI takes about 24 hours to dry. And I only had a few!



So I kinda cheated. I used canned icing. I know, I know. If you're going to go the cake mix way, you still gotta use homemade icing. And normally, I'm all for that. But canned icing doesn't take that long to harden and "crust" and it's still soft when you bite into it. And unlike some recipes that I've used in the past, it doesn't need egg white powder. Something I have, but left in Florida in my apartment.



Anyway, if you melt canned icing in the microwave--but not overheat!!!!!!-- then it thins enough for you to "flood" the cookies-- just like royal icing. Beware, though, that the icing only needs to be heated 5-15 seconds, depending on how much you're melting at one time. If you over heat, it'll spill out of the piping bag too quickly, and it will separate, so you have to wait until it cools so you can stir it all back together. So be careful!!! And of course, use it at room temp for the outlines and details.



These may not be the prettiest cookies ever, but I will tell you that non-professional looking cookies can still taste delicious and professional. And I'll save all of my decorating juices for when I decorate the gingerbread house and make the red velvet cupcakes!

A custom request for a young man who enjoys fishing and was taking a fishing trip to Florida.
In celebration of Dylan!  He will be undergoing a double lung transplant.....please pray for him that all goes well!

It's 3 days before Christmas (!!!!) and aside from the Christmas cookie tins that I made with my roomie, I haven't made any of my standard Christmas desserts. No sugar cookies, no gingerbread house, no Advent cake, no cute cupcakes!



I'm falling behind!!



So today I'm making some sugar cookies, which I'll more than likely take to a Christmas party tonight, if I have time to decorate them this afternoon. At some point, I'd like to go to the grocery store to get gingerbread house and red velvet cupcake ingredients. I don't know how I'll have time for all this before Christmas, so maybe I'll just wait until after, if I must.



Wish me luck with all my last-minute baking plans!! :)



And I HAVE to show you the Christmas ornament my aunt Jessica made for me. It is the cutest thing ever!

EVERY year, I say I'm going to make gingerbread cookies more often.  And every year, I forget. But I'm making these again next week (and quite possibly the next week and the next).
I'm going to beg you....MAKE THESE COOKIES!  They are some of my favorite cookies ever....soft, chewy, spicy...delicious!
I had a little too much fun making these.  The gingerbread dudes and gingerbread gals were just decorated with a bit of royal icing.
Was it wrong to start pairing off the gingerbread couples? It's like eHarmony for cookies over here. 
{Sign you've spent too much time with your cookies? You start staring at the gingerbread girl wishing you had her outfit.}

Here's a little trick for making hair from Martha:
Use a garlic press (this is the only thing I ever use mine for). Just fill it with dough and....
.....squeeze. 

These gingerbread scotties could not be easier.  A little collar, a little spring of holly...voila! Gingerbread Scottie Dog.
Here is the recipe.  I'm going to go out on a limb and call it the BEST GINGERBREAD COOKIE recipe EVER.  (I can say that because it's not my recipe, it's from the Southern Living Incredible Cookies cookbook.)


Gingerbread Cookies
(modified from Southern Living Incredible Cookies)

1/4 c. water
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. molasses
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
5 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
1 & 1/2 TBSP ground ginger
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 & 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Line baking sheets with parchment.

Stir together the water and baking soda until dissolved. Stir in the molasses; set aside.

Beat butter & sugar until fluffy and combined.

Whisk together flour, salt and spices.

Add to the butter mixture, alternating with the molasses mixture. Begin and end with the flour. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a floured cookie cutter and place on baking sheet. Freeze for 5 minutes before baking. {They are going to spread.}

Bake 10- 12 minutes (for a large shape). Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Cool completely before decorating with royal icing.