Take a Break-Eatable Valentines

My Mom made the best sugar cookies, but only for special occasions-Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. One year for Valentine’s, my mother suggested I take some of the sugar cookies instead of cards to school. From then on, whether it was for my class or one of my kids, sugar cookies were the card of choice.

This are not the type of cookie that does well dipped in royal icing. Instead, sprinkle colored sugars on before baking, or, try my current favorite, use “decorating pens” on cooled cookies. Both Wilton and Williams and Sonoma carry them. They come in lots of different colors and need to be warmed up to use.

While I’m including my Mom’s sugar cookie recipe below, use whatever dough you like, including the ones that are located near the cheese section at the grocery store. The idea is to make a cookie that you can have fun decorating.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t enjoy making these cookies as a kid as it seemed that it took forever with my mother’s hand maker. I now make the dough in no time in my food processor. Whether you use a mixer, your hands (my Aunt Margaret’s approach) or a food processor, the order of things is the same:

• Cream together 2/3 cup shortening and 1 1/4 cup sugar
• Add 2 eggs Mix well
• Add 3 cups flour, 11/2 t salt, 2 t baking powder and 11/2 t vanilla. Mix
• Form a ball and wrap in wax paper. Store in the refrigerator overnight-if you are desperate 30 minutes in the freezer works.

Pre heat oven to 350.

Cut the cookie dough into at least quarters. I like mine very thin, so I cut the dough into 8ths. Put a baking paper on a cookie pan. Start rolling out your dough a section at a time on a well floured board. Cut with cookie cutters. My Mom would do a quarter at a time and would make “blobs” with the small pieces left from cutting out. We were allowed to eat the blobs, saving the “nice” cookies for later.

Cook for 12-15 minutes. Check periodically.

If you are looking for other Valentine’s Day activities, check out these past posts:

Paper and Scissors (chains, cobweb, German Paper cutting)

Quilling

Valentine’s Paper Basket