Thursday, April 3, 2014

Spring-inspired sugar cookies



I'm always looking for an excuse to make sugar cookies with my kids. So when I can across these adorable cookie cutters a few months ago . . . bunny, carrot, tulip, and chick . . . I couldn't wait for the arrival of Spring to make them!

Our dining room table looked like a farm in the Springtime when we were finished.

We used a variety of pastel and vibrant colored sanding sugars . . . yellow, pink, orange, mint green and white . . . to decorate the cookies. I had extra green rock candy from Lauren's birthday cake, so we used it to make the carrot tops; and extra white candies from Charley's birthday cake were used for Peter's Cotton-tail.




 

Did you notice that a few of the carrots are two-tone?

I didn't want to waste the extra yellow sanding sugar I had, so I mixed it with the orange sanding sugar, and the combination made a beautiful golden-toned orange. Something so simple made those little carrots look more interesting!





Spring sugar cookies
Ingredients
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
12 Tablespoons (1 ½  sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature
 powder sugar (instead of flour) for rolling out dough

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Preparation
To make the cookies, in a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt . . . set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and egg. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix until just combined.

Form the dough into a flattened ball, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or as long as overnight.

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

On a lightly floured powder sugar surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart, and bake until just golden around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the cookies from the pans and let cool completely.

Makes 10 to 20 cookies, depending on cutter size.



Sugar Cookie GLAZE
2 ¼  cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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Combine ingredients and mix until smooth
Using a small paint brush (or the tip of your finger), spread on top of cookies
Sprinkle sanding sugar on top of GLAZE when it's wet

The secret to a 'clean' sugar edge is not letting the glaze drip down the sides of the cookie.
A thick glaze is also key.
After the glaze has been mixed, add 1 Tablespoon of confectioners' sugar at a time, 
until you get the desired consistency.
Have fun!







I found edible Easter grass at Powell's Sweet Shoppe last week.  It's imported from Germany, and not easy to find. So if you're lucky enough to come across it, then be sure and buy some. It's a unique confection that can be added to your Easter baskets or cello gift bags. I love it!

I used a little to make 'sweet' nests for the kids' chicks . . . and I'm using it in a window gift box that Charley is taking to her teacher tomorrow.


 





After all that fun, hard work the kids enjoyed a glass of milk with Spring-inspired  paper straws and their favorite sugar cookie. We had a wonderful afternoon! 

Happy Spring, friends!







LET'S STAY in touch!








33 comments:

  1. Your cookies are always so darn cute!

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  2. First of all, Sugar cookies are my all time favorite and these look AMAZING!!! When I try to make sugar cookies they always look like a 3 year old did them... Hmmm.... Please tell me you live down the street from me so I can just come to your house?! :) Ha!! Well, besides the puddle of drool on my keyboard now, the other reason I am contacting you is because I'm having trouble with your email address that you have listed on your blog. It keeps coming back as a failed message. Anyway!! I'd love to nominate you and your blog for the Liebster Award. Could you send me your email and I can give you more details?! NearlyHandmade AT gmail DOT com I'm so looking forward to hearing from you!! -Janice

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  3. WOW these are so adorable! I love the colors - the 2 tone carrot is awesome - and the shapes. I would probably only eat two or three of each one. :) If you get time, stop by and link up with us at Snickerdoodle Sunday sometime!!

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    1. Thanks for stopping in at Snickerdoodle Sunday!! :) Still loving these cookies!

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  4. These are darling. Your rock candy on the carrots is very clever.

    Madonna

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  5. These are too gorgeous to eat! You're so talented!

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  6. How sweet! Don't you love the pretty pastels of Spring! Enjoy your evening my friend! Sweet sugar hugs, Diane

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  7. Your cookies are adorable! I love the all the pretty colors. They look to pretty to eat! Thanks so much for sharing them with us at Show-licious Craft and Recipe party! Pinned to the party board.

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  8. Cute cookies! We're getting ready in a couple of weeks to make our mega Easter cookies -- 600!

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  9. WOW! These look absolutely delicious and they're gorgeous!!! I can't wait to share this recipe with my sister. Thank you for sharing! :-) Dawn @ www.730moments.com

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  10. These cookies are so pretty! Hugs from Mindie May from Bacon Time.

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  11. Oh my gosh, how fun and happy are these cookies! I want to make these for Easter! I'm your newest follower; can't wait to see more :D

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    1. Thanks so much for coming by, Annie!
      I hope you make these cookies for Easter. They're so fun and festive :0)
      Visit often!
      Have a great week,
      Suzanne

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  12. These cookies are amazingly adorable! I think I need to get baking.

    Great to have you at Seasonal Sundays.

    - Alma, The Tablescaper

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  13. Oh my goodness they are so pretty! My daughter was looking over my shoulder and asked if we could make some. We will have to give it a try, I hope mine look half as pretty. Thanks for linking up to Snickerdoodle sunday!

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  14. These are so cute and really professional! Thanks for sharing on the Thursday Blog Hop!

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  15. The carrot and bunny cookies are too adorable. I love colorful sugar cookies!

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  16. Love the colors, these are just adorable! I pinned them! Have a great weekend! ~Lorraine ♥♥♥

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  17. Those are beautiful - almost too pretty to eat! I love making cookies with my girls too. I'm featuring your Spring Sugar Cookies tomorrow on my Inspire Me Monday Features. Thanks for linking up.

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  18. I just adore these! They look too good to eat! I'm about to attempt to make some peeps cut out cookies tomorrow. Hopefully they'll look half as good as these! Glad I found you on Super Saturday Link Party!
    Momndaughtersavings.com

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  19. Anonymous7:53 AM

    They look so pretty, I love the colours you've used. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great weekend!!

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  20. What beautiful cookies! They look too pretty to eat. Just wanted to stop by that you've been featured this week at Much Ado About Monday. Stop on by and grab an "I was featured" button for your page! Thanks for linking up with us. :)

    ~Emily

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  21. Such sweet cookies! Thanks for linking up to Tasty Tuesday.

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  22. Those are amazing Suzanne!! I love...love the cotton tail, so adorable. I have never been able to remember the name of the colored sugars...Thank you....now I know they are sanding sugars. :) I will try to remember that!!

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  23. These are adorable do you mind if I link my readers here!

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  24. Oh my goodness, these are so cute!! Almost too cute to eat, but I'm sure I could manage. Thanks for sharing these adorable cookie ideas!

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  25. Beautiful cookies! Happy Easter.
    Sherry

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  26. Your cookies are so pretty, I love the carrots especially! So cute! I'm getting ready to bake some Easter cookies too! Happy Easter! :)

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  27. These are SO cute! I made sugar cookies yesterday but they didn't turn out this cute. I really love the bunnies with the tails (great idea!) and the carrots!

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  28. They're so cute and they look delicious! I haven't made sugar cookies in years - this has inspired me to try my hand at it again. I've always had problems with them falling apart or just tasting funky. I'm pretty darn good at making chocolate chip cookies, though.
    www.sunnyfleurphotos.net

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  29. We decorated sugar cookies with the grands today. Not nearly as lovely as yours, but we sure had fun! Thanks for sharing them with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  30. awesome; now that I have my first grandchild, it will be so much fun to bake and decorate these sugar cookies!

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  31. These are some of the prettiest sugar cookies I've every seen! Thanks for sharing them at my Creative Ways Link Party!
    Blessings,
    Nici

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