Coming home for Thanksgiving was nice timing since I desperately needed a break from school. Unfortunately, I still had to work, but it was great seeing a bunch of my old coworkers, and getting the chance to be at my home store that I helped open. I wasn't really planning on working two 9 hour shifts, but thankfully my old boss let me leave a bit early to spend time with my family. I don't think I will go back to work over Christmas break because I'd like to spend time with family, watch Christmas programs, bake, and focus on my blog and youtube channel. It's my favorite time of the year and I don't want to miss out on anything due to work. I can't remember the last time I actually got to properly watch a good portion of Christmas movies; I adore the hallmark channel and those abcfamily classics. Anyways, back to what I was saying; I didn't have as much time with my family as I would have liked to, but I tried to enjoy every bit of it. It was quite wonderful that my brother and sister-in-law drove up from another state to spend the weekend with us - what a treat! We spent all of Thanksgiving at my aunt's house just enjoying each other's company. I don't know whose idea it was, but instead of snacking all afternoon and feasting over dinner, we had a huge lunch and snacked throughout the night. Let's just say I felt like a blueberry ready to pop by the time we left to go back home. Unfortunately, I didn't get to snap pictures of our delicious looking food because by the time I got to the table, everyone was already digging in and enjoy every crumb that fell onto their plate. I don't blame them either, I mean, who can resist a volcano of mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and a giant 20+ pound turkey?
Now that I live on my own I feel more like an adult and I felt the need to bring something for people to enjoy. Me being the flourishing baker that I am, I decided to make cookies. I had never made sugar cookies before, and I thought that they would be fun to make and something different. They were a bit time consuming since I didn't have any cookie cutters, but I managed. At first I thought they were a flop, but after letting them sit they actually turned out quite successful. The cookies are "lofthouse" style, which means that they are soft and will surely melt in your mouth. I guess you could basically call this a 'copycat' of the cookies you can buy at the store... SO GOOD!
If you'd like the recipe I'll leave it down below:
For the cookie:
1 cup of butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 eggs
4 teaspoons of baking powder
4 cups of flour
For the Frosting:
1 cup of butter, at room temperature
8 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
food coloring, optional
sprinkles, optional
Directions:
Step one: Cream the butter until light and fluffy, then add in the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Mix until combined.
Step two: Add in the baking powder and flour. Mix well.
Step three: Shape the dough into a ball and wrap in saran wrap. I used a tiny bit of flour to help mold the dough into a ball, but be careful to not use too much and try not to knead the excess flour into the dough - it could potentially make the cookies dry.
Step four: Place in the fridge overnight, or let chill for several hours.
Step five: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step six: Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface. When you get to your desired thickness, take your cookie cutter and start cutting out your cookies. I didn't have a cookie cutter, but I wanted triangle shaped cookies, so I used a knife to cut them out. Once your cookies are cut out, place them on a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper.
Step seven: Pop them into the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are slightly brown. A good way to tell if they are done or not, is to look and see if the tops are glossy; if they appear to be wet, they are not quite done. You'll want to watch them closely because if you over cook them, they will turn out dry and hard.
Step eight: Set the cookies aside and prepare to make the frosting. Again, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add 4 cups of the powdered sugar, the milk, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add in the remaining powdered sugar until you've reached your desired consistency ( I recommend adding the entire 8 cups if you'll be piping designs onto your cookies). Lastly, add food coloring if desired.
Step nine: Pipe the frosting onto your cookies; you can also use a knife to spread on the frosting if you aren't as picky as I am.
*The recipe I used isn't mine; I got it from Classy Clutter's blog.
I tried to make them into mini pumpkin pie slices, but they didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped. However, they still tasted good and people enjoyed them, so that is all that matters. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and I hope you ate lots of turkey! Also, I will be uploading a vlog on my youtube channel that will show me making the dough and snippets of my thanksgiving break; you can check that out
here if you are interested.
Much Love! Xx
I ended up using a chocolate fudge cake mix, since time wasn't necessarily on my side. I then whipped up a chocolate mousse, which consists of: 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup, and a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder.
