cut-out sugar cookies

category: snacks

since we bought our oven last year, i always been baking cupcakes usually and then cakes. now i wanted to try cookies. i was thinking what to give to my good friends here in al ain for valentines day tomorrow. i thought of baking cupcakes but i would only make a few and i'm afraid it won't be enough for them. them i tried searching the net for cookie recipe and found a simple one... just got to try this out.

here it is. good thing is that i have this heart and star cookie cutter. i never thought that it's so much fun cutting cookies. hahaha :)... and it's also fun packing them in a very cute plastic packages i bought. i will definitely make more cookies in the future... mmmmmm... i think soon. makuy and kim likes it and they were not able to eat alot since i told them it's for our friends. hehehe...

i got this recipe here. i just made an adjustment in the time of baking. i baked for 8 minutes but it's not that lightly brown yet, so i added 7 more minutes but i ended up too brown at the bottom. the next batch i baked for 10 minutes and it came out just right.

ingredients:
3-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

procedure:
sift together flour, baking powder and salt. mix until combined. set aside.

cream together butter and sugar. add in eggs one at a time and then add vanilla. gradually add flour mixture until well blended and you can gather together as a ball.

cover with a plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

preheat oven to 350ºf.

roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface until about 1/8'' thick. cut out into shapes and place on greased cookie sheets.

bake for 10 minutes or until very lightly browned. remove from cookie sheets and cool.

berry pillow

category: dessert, snacks
serving: makes 12 pcs.

i found this recipe in san miguel great food club website. it looks good and easy since it only requires few ingredients... so i tried it. kim said that it's okay or it's good. but for me, i'm a bit disappointed of the outcome. maybe there was something wrong with my dough. i don't have food processor, so i just used my hand mixer. the outcome didn't came out as i expected it and i baked it for 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes which the recipe stated. i baked it for 15 minutes but when i checked, it's not done yet. anyway, kim brought some in the office for his snack, so i think that it's really okay.

you can visit san miguel great food website for more recipes but you have to register to get the recipes. i am posting here the recipe i got there. i just substituted the sour cream with yogurt plus butter since i couldn't find sour cream here.

ingredients:
for the dough:
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup butter
3 cups all-purpose flour

for the filling:
2 jars strawberry jam
white sugar for coating

procedure:
combine sour cream, butter and flour on a food processor until formed into a dough. gather dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and chill.

cut into 4 equal pieces. on a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece shaping into 12" x 4" rectangle. spread one side with jam. roll out into a log. cut into desired sizes per log.

roll each piece in sugar and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

bake at pre-heated oven at 350ºf for 15 minutes or until done.

note:
substiture for sour cream, this makes 1 cup.
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter

melt butter and let cool at room temperature. mix well the butter and yogurt. refrigerate for 1 hour.

chocolate chip cookies

cookies are supposedly easy to make but i always seemed to fail. well, this is my 3rd try and so far i'm getting a thumbs up from my eaters... my husband and son. hehehe... i wanted the cookies that's crispy but the outcome of my cookies were soft; maybe that's how my recipe should be. next time, i would like to bake the crispy ones.

i found this recipe on the net from http://www.easy-cookies.com/.

ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, soften but not melted
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1-1/8 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1-1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

procedure:
preheat oven to 350ºc.

cream the butter and both sugars. add the beaten egg and vanilla.

sift flour, baking soda and salt. add to the butter-sugar mixture. mix thoroughly and then add the chocolate chips.

drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 7-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the edges.



let cool on a wire rack before taking out of the cookie sheet to prevent it from tearing/falling apart.