Frosted Sugar Cookies

When Mr. Prevention inquired about my holiday baking to-do list (i.e. what I planned on baking), he gave loud and clear disapproval over Frosted Sugar Cookies not making the list. After giving that some thought, I happily agreed that said cookies deserve to be part of our Christmas, not only this year, but every year as they have been in the past. And future. Mark my word!

What is it about sugar cookies? Not-so-memorable on their own…but frosted? Now we’re talking.

Maybe it’s the fact that Mr. Prevention helps. Last year he was Sprinkle Man and this year, ungraded to Frosting Boy. Though a demotion may be in order. Not only did he feel the need to frost every cookie the same color until that color ran out, but he used far too much frosting. While they are most certainly the cookies I would reach for on account of the frosting, we nearly ran out with about 10 cookies left. Oh wait, we did run out. We had about 6 naked cookies.

Of course it wasn’t until AFTER we ran out that he came to the realization that hmmm, maybe he was using too much as I had been coaching him all along. Imagine that. (I’m often wrong a lot when it comes to our little couple debates, but not lately. The streak continues.)

We also learned an important lesson: this frosting dries quickly. This really is a 2-person task to frost and sprinkle before the frosting hardens and the sprinkles come rolling off the cookies. This is particularly frustrating when SOME PEOPLE don’t actually sprinkle the sprinkles but decide to POUR them from a bottle with no top.

Who says kids are the messy ones?

It’s taken a few years and a few learning curves, but next year, we’ll get it all perfected. Less frosting, more spreading…sprinkles ASAP…and my lesson learned, use smaller cookie cutters — it cuts out some major calories. These Frosted Sugar Cookies are nearly 1/3 lower in calories (and fat!) than last year’s 😉

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Best Rolled Sugar Cookies from Allrecipes.com and Christmas Cookie Frosting from Cooks.com

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Frosting:
4 cups (1 lb) powdered sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
food coloring, optional

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

For the frosting: Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Stir in food coloring, if desired. Frost cookies after they have cooled completely.

Yield: About 7-8 dozen (my recipe made 95 cookies this year as I used smaller cut-outs).

Nutrition Information (per cookie w/ frosting): 89 calories; 3.4 g. fat; 9 mg. cholesterol; 38 mg. sodium; 13.8 g. carbohydrate; 0 g. fiber; 1.0 g. protein

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My exam went well…I think. I hope! Results in 4-6 weeks…ugh. I hate the waiting game!

Only Wednesday, huh?

Be well,