Sugar Cookies

My favorite sugar cookies are not quite crunchy, but not too soft either. And I love this icing recipe. The icing dries hard and shiny and is so fun to use.

Sugar Cookie Cutouts (from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)

1/3 c. butter or margarine
1/3 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
dash of salt
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla (I use almond extract)
2 c. all-purpose flour

Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed until smooth. Add sugar, baking powder and a dash of salt. Beat till combined, scraping bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until easy to handle. (An hour or two.)

On a lightly-floured surface, roll half at a time to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 7-8 minutes until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool completely on a baking rack before frosting.

Sugar Cookie Icing

2 c. powdered sugar
4 tsp. milk
4 tsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. You may have to play around with the liquid measurements - it can vary a lot depending on the humidity. The icing should be fairly thick, but not as thick as traditional frosting. You can either spread the icing with a spoon or knife or dip the tops of the cookies into the icing. Here is a link to the icing recipe on allrecipes.com: Sugar Cookie Icing.

Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars

Cookies are not my favorite thing to bake. I'd much rather spread the dough all out in one pan and set one timer than cook multiple batches of cookies. I convinced Dave that these bars are better than cookies. Never thought I'd find a recipe good enough for that!

For the oatmeal layer:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups (packed) brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups old-fashioned (rolled) oats

1 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Beat the butter on medium speed in a mixer until it is soft and creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat for 2 minutes, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating for a minute after each egg goes in. Beat in the vanilla. The mixture should be light and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear. Still on low speed, or working by hand with a rubber spatula, stir in the oats and chopped peanuts.

Set aside 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the mixture, then press the remaining dough into a greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan.

For the chocolate layer:

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts

Melt the chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave, stirring often. Add remaining ingredients and stir well.

Pour the warm chocolate mixture over the oatmeal crust, then scatter the remaining oatmeal mixture over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the chocolate layer is dull and starting to come away from the sides of the pan. Cool for about 2 hours. Cut into bars and serve at room temperature or refrigerate and serve cold.

Recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours

Mushroom Rice

This is another favorite rice side dish.

Mushroom Rice

2 tsp. butter
6 mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green onion, chopped
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. white rice
1/2 tsp. parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Cook mushrooms, garlic and onion in butter until liquid has evaporated. Stir in broth and rice. Season with parsley, salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

*Once when I made this I accidently dumped a whole lot of pepper in, but it ended up being really good. So, be generous with the pepper!

Lemon-Thyme Rice

This is one of my favorite side dishes. It's been a while since I've made it, so I don't have a picture. I have a lot of rice in food storage that I need to use so I was digging through my recipe box and came across this one.

Lemon-Thyme Rice

1 Tbs. butter
1 c. rice
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. dried thyme

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in rice. Cook rice, stirring frequently until browned, about five minutes. Mix broth, lemon juice and thyme into rice. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook 20 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

Rice Crispy Valentine Treats

A few weeks ago I made the worst rice crispy treats ever! The marshmallows refused to melt (who knows what they were made of -- rubber?) and I added way to much butter. So I looked up the official rice crispy recipe from Kelloggs Rice Krispies just so I could redeem myself and make these cute little Valentine treats I found on one of my favorite blogs, Skip to My Lou.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

1 (10 oz) package marshmallows (not the Wal-Mart brand)

6 cups rice crispy cereal

White almond bark

Sprinkles

Sucker Sticks

Directions:

Put butter and marshmallows in a big bowl. Melt in microwave (about three minutes). Stir after about 1 1/2 minutes. Add cereal and stir well to coat. Grease 9 X 13 pan. Pour in rice crispy mixture and pat down. After it has cooled completely, spray heart-shaped cookie cutters and cut heart shapes out of rice crispy treats. Melt almond bark in microwave. Dip front of rice crispy treat in the almond bark and sprinkle with sprinkles. Poke sucker stick in the end.

Cute, easy, quick, and yummy. Who doesn't like rice crispy treats? Even the ones made with rubber marshmallows got eaten.

Recipe Request: I think the hardest part of fixing a meal is thinking of a side dish. In our house it is either Rice-A-Roni or mashed potatoes. I could use some new ideas. Thanks