Betty Crocker - Not me

Okay, I have always had this vision (long before Isabelle was born) that when I have a child that I would make homemade cupcakes and decorated cookies for the holiday school parties. So, this Easter I decided to finally make my vision come true. Well flipping through my Southern Living magazine I found a picture of these beautiful cookies cut out as rabbits, ducks, and flowers decorated in pastel icing (see picture). There was even a recipe - 5 ingredient sugar cookies (I have posted the recipe at the end). Home run - I will make these for Isabelle's party. So, I actually made it to the party sign-up sheet in time to sign up for cookies - woo hoo! Cookies and cupcakes are hot commodities on the sign-up sheet! Never before have I been able to sign up for these wonderful bake goods. I usually get stuck with finger sandwiches.

Off the grocery store I go the night before the party - big mistake. I zip through Kroger finding all the ingredients I need for the 5 ingredient cookies and all of the ingredients for the simple frosting (yes the name is simple frosting)but the meringue powder. Then as I was going through the refrigerated department I noticed sugar cookie dough sold in sheets for easy cut-out. All I kept thinking of was the 5 ingredient dough had to refrigerate for 2-24 hours and then I would need to roll it out. I have never rolled out dough before (I am a little intimidated) - I usually stick to drop cookies. So, I decided to buy a couple packages of this wonderful creation - just in case - of course. Even if I did decide to use the pre-made cookie dough, I could pair it with some nice homemade frosting.

So, I went to Hobby Lobby next and searched the cake decorating aisle for meringue powder. No luck. Stop #2 - World Market - I was optimistic that they would have some hard to find meringue powder - strike 2. Stop #3 - Party City - I know they also sell cake decorating supplies. Strike 3. It was at this point I decided to purchase some Wilson prepackaged cake frosting in vanilla. When I was checking out, I told the clerk what I was in search of and she told me wait one minute. She called her mother and told her what I needed and then she gave me the phone - no joke. At this point, the lady started giving me all kinds of recipes for frosting. I didn't even have a pen or paper. Crazy. All I could think of was this is eating into my 2 hour refrigeration time for my cookies and yes my groceries are in my car. Then a lady overhears our conversation and tells me she bought meringue powder at Hobby Lobby just a couple of weeks ago. So, I doubted myself and yes I went back and looked again. There was a lady there buying cake stuff - definitely a professional baker - and I asked her if she knows where the meringue powder would be and she said it is right here. Oh wait, looks like they are sold out. At this point, I thought I better just go home.

I go home, preheat the oven, get my cookie cutters out, and Isabelle and I get busy cutting out rabbits, ducks, and circles from my Pillsbury sugar cookie dough (glad I bought it). The cookies were beautiful! As they were cooking, I found a recipe for sugar cookie frosting on allrecipes.com and I had all of the ingredients. It called for 4 cups of powdered sugar. I started to measure it and I looked and it was a 32 oz package. 32 oz - wait that is 4 cups - there is no need to measure out 4 cups and make a mess. I even asked Tommy and he gave me a 'uh huh'. So, I put that in my stand mixer with rest of the ingredients. It was suppose to get smooth and creamy. Well mine was not getting smooth it was staying as powder sugar and making a mess. So, I kept adding a little bit of liquid hoping for a miracle. Nothing! Geesh - what next?? I had a second recipe printed that was even simpler. This one needed 1 cup of powder sugar. So, I measured it this time and added the ingredients and it made enough frosting for like 4 cookies and looked gross. At this point, I gave up and used my canned frosting (so glad I bought that). I watered it down a little bit as the instructions said and divided it up into small bowls and added the food coloring I purchased.

Well - I thought frosting cookies would be easy. Oh no - it was not easy. Once I started frosting them, you could not even make out if the cookie was rabbit or duck. How did they make them look so perfect in the picture? I could not leave an outline of the cookie - they just kept getting messier and messier. Finally with my last 4-10 cookies, I discovered that it worked better if I used my finger to frost the cookies. Yes, my hands were clean and I was not licking my fingers after frosting every cookie. But, it did help to make a thinner layer so you could somewhat tell what the cookie was. 3 hours later - my kitchen and dining room were a total mess. Frosting on the floor, table, dirty dishes everywhere, and powder sugar all over the place. I should have taken a picture!

Lesson - I have given up on my dream of being Betty Crocker. No cupcakes or decorated cookies coming from me again. I will stick to appetizers, drop cookies, even finger sandwiches. I should have known this would be an issue since I have problems frosting cakes. I never ever make a layered cake - I always have to make a sheet cake. Maybe I should take a cake decorating class?? There is a possibility!

Anyhow, here is a picture of the cookies. I must say they were mighty delicious. We managed to eat the leftover cookies I snatched from the party over Easter weekend.














PS - This blog is late because I have been engrossed with the Twlight series. I finished the last book, Breaking Dawn, on Saturday night. I now have free time to catch up on tv and my blog writing. I am having withdrawals from the Cullens though..

Recipe:
Easter Cookies Prep: 25 min.; Chill: 2 hr., 15 min.; Bake: 14 min. per batch; Cool: 35 min.; Stand: 1 hr. This five-ingredient dough can be made up to three days ahead.1 1/2 cups butter, softened1 cup powdered sugar1/4 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, siftedSimple Icing
1. Beat butter, sugar, and salt at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Add vanilla; beat until well blended. Gradually add flour, beating at low speed until blended. (Dough will be very soft.)
2. Divide dough into 2 equal portions; wrap each with plastic wrap, and flatten into a disc. Chill 2 to 24 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350°. Unwrap 1 dough disc on a well-floured surface. Cover with a large piece of plastic wrap, and roll to 1/4-inch thickness; cut into desired shapes with 3 1/2-inch cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Chill 15 minutes. Repeat procedure with remaining dough disc.
4. Bake at 350° for 14 to 17 minutes or just until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool completely (about 30 minutes). Decorate cookies with Simple Icing. Let stand 1 hour or until icing is firm.


Simple Icing Prep: 10 min.
This recipe goes with Easter Cookies6 cups powdered sugar2 tablespoons meringue powder1/2 teaspoon lemon juiceFood coloring paste or drops
1. Whisk together first 3 ingredients and 6 to 8 Tbsp. water until smooth. Divide mixture into 5 to 6 small bowls; tint icing in each bowl with desired food coloring paste or drops, stirring until blended.
Note: For testing purposes only, we used Wilton Meringue Powder. Meringue powder and food coloring paste can be found at crafts and cake-decorating stores.