Sweet!

I made these sweet little Valentine treats today.
They are so delicious!
















No Fail Sugar Cookies
This recipe is great when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking.

Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking.
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring
1tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill 1-2 hours (or see hint below) Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shape. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes (or longer if cookies are thicker) or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe can make up to 5 dozen 3" cookies.

(AWESOME) HINT - Rolling out the dough without the mess--rather than waiting for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out to the desired thickness and place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the fridge. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Re-roll leftover dough and repeat the process. An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.

Royal Icing
1/4 cup meringue powder (you can find this at bakery supply stores or Michaels)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
5 1/2 TBSP Water - that will make it really thick so I usually thin it a tiny bit more for the outlining and quite a bit more for the filling in.
1 pound powdered sugar

Place in grease free bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.

These are Jessica's recipes :)