So last Saturday my friend Sharon came over to visit with her niece for a playdate with Nairn – I had some fantastic ideas for keeping the kids amused including giant paperchain dolls to decorate and cookies for them to cut out and decorate themselves – and of course they spent the entire afternoon running about chasing each other. The best laid plans of mice and men, eh?

When Sharon left, Bob gave her half of the cookie dough that I’d so lovingly prepared so that she and her niece could make them together. The other half was put back in the fridge with the intention of baking them next day…

…but it’s still there! This week has been utterly manic and I honestly haven’t had ten minutes to roll out and bake the cookies. My poor starved children have had to go without baked confections for over a week because Mummy has been just too busy (or tired!) to stand in the kitchen. What would you do? Would you use the cookie dough or would you bin it? I have a feeling that if we’re going to use it then today really must be the day but I don’t want to risk making the kids unwell. But I really hate waste. Decisions decisions.

I haven’t actually tried this recipe out yet but the dough was extremely easy to throw together. It’s another recipe using cups rather than weighed ingredients but I’m beginning to realise that my measuring cups are one of my better investments.

Recipe – Cut out cookies (makes loads)

3.5 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
225g unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsps vanilla extract

In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes with a hand blender). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.
Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in clingfilm. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.
Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper. Take one half of the chilled dough and, on a lightly floured surface, roll it out to a thickness of 1cm. (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the worktop). Cut out your shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet.
Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. One half of the dough mixture will fill your two baking sheets.
Bake cookies for about 10 minutes (depending on size) or until they are brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Icing recipe

2 large egg whites
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
Food colouring

In a small bowl, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth then add food colouring to your preference. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as it hardens when exposed to air. Cover with clingfilm when not in use.

Let me know if you try these!

My plans for today are to finally master buttonholes so I can finish the jacket I’ve been working on for Erica. As a little taster, here’s a (very poor, taken with my phone) photo-taster of the embellishment I’ve appliquéd onto it. What do you think?

Posted under baking, for the kids, sewing, with the kids