Halloween Sugar Cookies | Ghosts of All Sorts
I realllly shouldn't be blogging, but I was so busy wrapping C's gifts, baking his birthday cake
and tidying up the piles of clothes I had yet to put away from last week's trunk show that I'm now WIDE awake. So, if you haven't guessed, October 16th is C's 4th birthday! He has requested pancakes for breakfast, spaghetti "with sauce" for dinner and chocolate (of course) birthday cake. We will have friends over Saturday for a costume party with MORE cake and lots of games. Today we spent some time making treats for his class. Since the theme for the day is going to be "ghosts of all sorts" we decided ghosts cookies would be fun!
Charlie cut out all the cookies and I did all the decorating. They don't look professional, but they sure do taste it!! I used the same recipe I did for Easter cookies. I'll share it again in this post, but if you want more details on my icing "technique" click here. I wanted to make cute little labels too but my printer has a mysterious paper jam. I was in there with a flash light and saw no such thing, but it wasn't budging, so I kept it really simple: cellophane bag + bow! Those happy little faces are making me smile!!
My Favorite Sugar Cookies
1 c unsalted butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract {optional}
3 c flour
Cream butter + sugar until fluffy, add sugar and mix. Add egg, salt, vanilla + almond extract; mix well. Add flour. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let sit on counter for 5-10 min before rolling out. Roll on a well floured surface, be liberal with the flour so the dough doesn't stick. Roll to 1/4 inch for a softer cookie, roll to 1/8 inch for a crispier cookie. Cook at 375 degrees on parchment lined baking sheets for 10-13 minutes until edges are just golden. I do not recommend using a convection oven setting for sugar cookies, it changes the texture.
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract {optional}
3 c flour
Cream butter + sugar until fluffy, add sugar and mix. Add egg, salt, vanilla + almond extract; mix well. Add flour. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let sit on counter for 5-10 min before rolling out. Roll on a well floured surface, be liberal with the flour so the dough doesn't stick. Roll to 1/4 inch for a softer cookie, roll to 1/8 inch for a crispier cookie. Cook at 375 degrees on parchment lined baking sheets for 10-13 minutes until edges are just golden. I do not recommend using a convection oven setting for sugar cookies, it changes the texture.
3 egg whites
4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
water or fresh lemon juice
Combine egg whites + powdered sugar + vanilla in mixer with the paddle attachment. Whip until thick. I use the thick consistency to outline the cookies. Then I add a splash of water or lemon juice {and whip again} to thin the icing to flooding consistency for the inside of the cookie. {If you are concerned about using raw egg whites you can add 5 TBS meringue powder to 1 pound of powdered sugar.}
