Halloween Sugar Cookies

In the realm of holiday enjoyment, my love of Halloween is unparalleled.  I freaking love Halloween! I love the costumes, I love the decorations (I'm partial to skulls and spiders), I love the candy and the parties and the tricks and OF COURSE the treats.   This sugar cookie recipe is a staple that can be used to make holiday treats year round.  It was originally featured on Alton Brown's show Good Eats.  (Oh man, you should watch the episode, The Cookie Clause, it's brilliant.  Santa's feeling merciful!)

This recipe uses the creaming method.  If you are unfamiliar with the creaming technique Alton gives a great explanation, or you can hop over to my post on it real quick.   Creaming the butter and sugar together properly will give your cookies the perfect texture.  

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
• (optional) 1 teaspoon extract (vanilla, almond, lemon...whatever you like!)

Directions:

•  Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.  Beat together the egg, milk, and any extract you are using and set aside.  
• Cream together the softened butter and sugar.  Beat together until the mix becomes a noticeably lighter color, bigger in volume and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Add the liquid ingredients to the butter and sugar and mix together.  Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until an evenly mixed dough forms. 
• Divide the dough in two, shape into flat squares and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Once the dough is chilled, sprinkle your work area and rolling pin with powdered sugar and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out your shapes and move to a parchment covered cookie sheet (or a greased sheet). 
• Bake for 7-9 minutes, turning halfway through.  When the cookies begin to turn golden brown on the bottoms and edges they are finished. Cool for two minutes on the cookie sheet, then move to a wire rack.

If you like look of the smooth, shiny, hard-drying frosting that is traditionally used on sugar cookies, you can use this recipe for your frosting.  (The frosting on the white cookies was made this way, the black frosting is Betty Crocker from a tube.)

Frosting:

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• (optional) 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  
• (optional) assorted food coloring

Directions:

• Mix it all up!  If your frosting comes out to dry add more milk, if it is to watery add more sugar.  
• Spread a thin layer on your cookies and let it air dry for a few minutes. 

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles!  It's such a fun word to say I have a hard time not repeating it over and over again.    No one knows where these cookies got their name, but it was probably just made up by someone who liked how it sounds.  Snickerdoodle!   My boyfriend loves sugar cookies so I whipped up this batch just for him.  The snickerdoodle is very similar to a regular sugar cookie, but instead of having sugar sprinkled on top, it is rolled in a mix of sugar and cinnamon.   Some people like them soft, some people make them thinner and crispy.  If you have read my blog before (especially most post about creaming) you probably already know I'm crazy about fluffy cookies.   Bake this recipe just until the bottom of the cookies begins to brown and the edges are crispy, and the center remains chewy and fluffy and soft.   MMMMM.  

You also probably know that I do all my baking by hand because of a woeful lack of kitchen appliances.  Well, no more!    I picked up at Cuisinart CHM-3 Hand Mixer in red and I'm so excited to make like a million recipes with it.  I love its retro look, I just wish it was a little bit lighter.  Still, it seems like it will probably be hanging out in my kitchen for the next 15-30 years so I'm pretty happy. 

I got this recipe from JoyofBaking.com, they have awesome recipes that have all been tested out.  Many come with videos.  Go check 'em out. 

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients (3-4 dozen cookies):

• 2 3/4 cups (360 grams) all purposeflour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• Coating: 1/3 cup white sugar, 2 teaspoons cinammon. 

Preparation: 

• Place oven racks in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400F degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (foil works if you don't have parchment paper.  Don't use wax paper.  I learned the hard way that wax paper and parchment paper are not interchangeable.  Don't ask.)
• In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder.  
• In a separate bowl  (or the bowl of your mixer) cream together the soft butter and white sugar. You will want your butter to be soft but not melty, about 65F degrees.   If you live in a warmer climate do not let your butter get all the way to room temperature, as it will be to soft then.   This will take a minute or two, keep beating together until the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, becomes noticeably fluffier and lighter in color. 
• Beat in each egg one at a time, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go along to make sure everything is fully incorporated.  After the eggs, mix in the vanilla.  
• Add the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly until a smooth dough forms.  I normally add the dry ingredients in three stages, mixing then adding a little more and mixing and so forth.   You can refrigerate the dough for a little while if it is to soft or warm.
• Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar/cinammon mixture.  Place the balls on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart and gently flatten to about 1/2 inch high with the bottom of a glass. 
• Bake for 8-10 minutes in the 400F degree oven until the bottoms begin to brown and the edges are crispy.   Place on a wire rack to cool.