Mother's Day Cookies

Mother's Day is this weekend and I always like to celebrate by baking my mother's recipe for sugar cookies in her honor. My mother was well known for her sugar cookies. While she would sometimes ban my sisters and I from the kitchen so she could devote her full attention to baking, she would always let us help with sugar cookies. She allowed us to roll them out, cut them into shapes, and sprinkle them with a wide variety of sparkly sugar confections. They were always delicate and crunch. "The secret to delicious pastry is to not overwork the dough, girls," she would say. I remember her words to this day, and I repeat them to my girls, who I hope will repeat them to their girls, and so on...

Here I am (as a baby!) with my mother and two older sisters.

These are wonderful cookies to be enjoyed while making and eating, as well as a wonderful tradition to start with loved ones. Show your mother you care this Mother's Day with a beautiful display of homemade sugar cookies.

MAKES ABOUT 24 COOKIES.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Colored sugar crystal or candy sprinkles

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt onto a piece of wax paper. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until well combined. Wrap the dough in a clean kitchen towel or parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter baking sheets.
4. Roll out one-third of the dough to about 1/8 inch thick and cut out shapes with cookies cutters. Sprinkle the cookies generously with colored sugar crystal or candy sprinkles and transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, or until firm in the centers but not browned. remove the cookies from the sheets with a wide spatular and cool on wire racks. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store the cookies in a tin. They can be frozen prior to baking for up to 1 month, or stored in a cool, dark place for 1 week.

Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day!

www.rosannainc.com

Halloween Treats

My mother made owl cookies every Halloween when I was growing up. Charming and delicious, they were always a hit with my friends. The dough is a basic refrigerator-cookie dough that is made ahead of time and can also be frozen. Children love to assemble and decorate these cookies, which features chocolate chips for eyes and a giant salted cashew for a nose to make up the perfect owl face.

This recipe makes a good-sized batch of large cookies for Halloween school parties or Halloween parties at home.

MAKES ABOUT 18 COOKIES

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Semisweet chocolate chips
About 18 whole roasted and salted cashews (or candy corn, if nut allergies are a concern)

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Continuing to beat, add the sugar slowly, then beat until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Mix in the dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and vanilla, then add them to the dough a little at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Transfer about one-third of the dough to a separate bowl and stir in the melted chocolate chips to make a chocolate dough. Shape the chocolate dough into a 10-inch-long log, working very quickly before the chocolate solidifies. Wrap in wax paper and put in the refrigerator.
5. Roll out the remaining (vanilla) dough into a long rectangular shape as long as the chocolate log. Set the chilled chocolate log in the center of the vanilla rectangle and wrap it up so that a cross-section resembles a bullseye, with a vanilla out layer and a chocolate center. Wrap the log in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. (You can also freeze the dough for up to a month.)
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter 2 baking sheets. Place the chocolate chips and cashews in small bowls for easy access.
7. Unwrap the logs and cut them into 1/8-inch slices. Join the two slices together by placing them side by side on a baking sheet and pinching them. Slightly pinch the two opposite sides of the rounds into pointy ear shapes. Place a chocolate chip upside down in the center of each chocolate eye, then embed a cashew into the center of the two joined circles. Repeat with the remaining slices, spacing the owls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
8. Bake for about 10 minutes, watching closely, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Store the cookies in a large tin, with the layers separated by sheets of wax paper. Keep the tin in a cool place until Halloween, or freeze the cookies ahead of time. Be careful not to fill the tin too full to avoid breaking the two halves apart.
10. Serve on a shiny black cake pedestal for a very spooky effect.

The owl cookies display on served on the Rococo Noir pedestals with the Dauphine candlesticks.

Enjoy!

www.rosannainc.com