Nutella Stuffed Sugar Cookies

Nope.  Not an ordinary sugar cookie.  I’m all about food surprises.  Talk about being given an unassuming sugar cookie only to bite in to find this.

My sister came over and she wanted to bake.  As if I would say no.  My sister does whatever she can to incorporate Nutella or Biscoff to anything and everything she eats.  No joke.  I know because she’s polished of several Biscoff and Nutella jars in my house before I had the chance to get to them.  She also loves sugar cookies – more than chocolate chip cookies – she’s one of those.

We got our bake on.  And we got creative.  My sister did this.  Obviously.

I wouldn’t recommend topping with Nutella unless you intend to serve and eat right away because the Nutella doesn’t necessary ‘set’.  These cookies were served and eaten right away.

Nutella Stuffed Sugar Cookies
– adapted from Cookin’ Canuck

Ingredients:

• sugar cookie dough
• 1/2 cup Nutella

 Directions:

1. Using a teaspoon measure, scoop out spoonfuls of Nutella onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Prepare your sugar cookie dough.
4. Using a cookie scoop, scoop out one piece of dough into your hand.  Split the dough in half and flatten both halves.  Place a frozen Nutella piece in the middle of one piece.  Top that with the other flattened piece.  Seal the edges with your fingers.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Place each dough two inches apart.
5. Bake 10 minutes, rotating the sheet half-way through the baking.  Remove from the oven after 10 minutes or until edges are golden.  Cool in baking sheet for 10 minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and cool on a cookie rack.  Feel free to eat them warm, as well.

Happy Valentine’s Day {Sugar Cookies}

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

I must say that I have never been a fan of Valentine’s Day.  Whether I was single, dating or married, the purpose of the day was lost on me.  All purposes save one.  The delicious factor.  You know what I mean.  Chocolates.  Desserts.  And of course, cookies.

With sugar cookies on the brain lately, I finally sat down and decorated sugar cookies for friends.  My experience has been that most cut-out decorated sugar cookies have lacked great flavor.  Well, not these.  These cookies are perfect.  Full of flavor and tender crumb.  The cookies are not overly sweet, which works well when paired with the royal icing, which let’s admit may not be the most delicious thing to put on top of a cookie.

And, as a novice at the decorated sugar cookie, I fully expected my cookies to be imperfect and composed of minor, superficial blemishes.  However, with a superior base product, I would gladly eat and share these cookies with my family and friends.

Sugar Cookies
–  from Annie’s Eats

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 and 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 and 1/2 cup sifted flour

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cream butter until fluffy and add powdered sugar until fully incorporated and light.
3. Add egg, almond extract, vanilla extract, salt and flour to the butter mixture until well blended (in that order).
4. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least two hours, until the dough has firmed up.
5. Once chilled, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the cookie dough to a 1/4 inch thickness.  If your dough keeps sticking, I suggest alternating between flour and powdered sugar to powder to the surface.  This way you won’t run the risk of adding too much flour to the mixture.
6. After rolling, cut out your desired shapes with cookie cutters.  Transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until only barely browned on the bottom.  You do not want to brown these cookies.
8. Allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack completely before decorating.  If you don’t intend on decorating right away, store in an airtight container until it is time to decorate.

Sugar Cookie Revisited

A few weeks before my father passed, new neighbors moved in next to their home.  Specifically, a family associated with a motorcycle group.  I remember seeing them and thinking that it would be bad for the neighborhood based on nothing but my own stereotypes.  After my dad passed, seeing them angered me more.  To me, it was bad enough my mom had to deal with the loss in the house, but to add the added noise and raucous of the neighbors made me frustrated.  In hindsight, I just wanted to be mad at anyone else to avoid dealing with the loss.

So, imagine the humble pie I was served when my sister called to inform me that the new neighbors mowed my mom’s entire lawn after learning of my dad’s passing.  Imagine the shame I felt when my sister called me the following month to say they did it again.  Feeling both embarrassed at how much I had judged a family for nothing and simultaneously thankful at their graciousness, I cried that day.  After crying, I baked.  I baked to thank.  And, I have decided to bake them something once a month to show that their gesture does not go unnoticed.

These cookies seemed appropriate for February.  I used a different recipe from my usual to try something new.

I loved these cookies.  If you can believe it, one sugar cookie doesn’t necessarily taste like the other.  My usual sugar cookie tastes rich, buttery and very chewy – almost dense with sugar.  These taste wonderfully in a completely different way.  It’s light, perfectly sweet and fluffy.  These cookies puff up when baking and almost melt in your mouth when you bite down.

My sister stole a couple and said these were the best sugar cookies she has eaten.  I have to agree they are great.  I would definitely make them again depending on my mood/preference.  I’ve learned not to be so rigid.

Sugar Cookies
barely adapted from here

Yields approximately 48 medium-sized cookies

Ingredients:

• 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened (I usually leave my butter sticks out overnight)
• 1-1/2  cups white granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Additional sugar for rolling.  (I used colored sugar)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and well blended.
4. Add the egg and vanilla extract.  Mix until incorporated.
5. Add the flour mixture in three batches and mix in between each addition.
6. Using a cookie scoop, roll each scoop into the sugar.
7. Place each cookie onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
8. Bake for 8-9 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom.
9. Once you remove the sheet from the oven, cool on the sheet for about 2 minutes and then move to wire racks to completely cool.
10. Store in an airtight container.