life with the blair's

Who doesn't love cut-out cookies?!!

I really think homemade gifts are so much fun.  Maybe it's because I have too much of my momma in me, or maybe its because I love the personal touch (and taste!!).  So a sweet friend from Tunisia was coming to Malta with her family for a vacation.  (Its awful that the word "holiday" came to mind first.)  I need to get back to the states ASAP!  Anyways, I decided to make her a cookie bouquet since yesterday was her birthday.  If anyone is curious how to do one, I'll try to outline it as best as I can.  Also, if you dont think you can do it...trust me you can!  It's super easy.  

So here was the end product:

I think everyone probably has a sugar cookie recipe that they love.  Mine, I thought was an old family recipe.  See, my mom had an Aunt Ethel.  And every time I would pull her old, tattered recipe card out of the box... I would read "Aunt Ethel's Cut Out's."  So I thought we had the real deal.  Well after I moved away, I remember one day calling my mom for the recipe.  She was driving and just said... "Google it.  It's from the Betty Crocker Cookbook."  I remember saying to her... No...thats not the recipe I want.  I want your Aunt Ethel's.  She started laughing.  Wouldn't you know that the Betty Crocker recipe is listed under "Aunt Ethel"???   Broke my heart :)  So, if you want my recipe here it is:

Ethel's Sugar Cookies

adapted from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book (copyright 1977)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1. Mix butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla thoroughly.
2. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together.
3. Blend butter mixture and flour mixture.
4. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to sit on the counter for 15-30 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
6. On a board that has been lightly floured with a mixture of flour and confectioner's sugar, roll dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut with your favorite cooky cuter.
7. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Top with colored sanding sugar, if desired.
8. Bake 6 to 8 minutes, or until cookies are a delicate light golden color. 

For the frosting... I love the butter cream icing in the same cookbook.  It's like the real frosting taste, not the fake kind.  Royal icing is very popular with perfect looking cookies, but I just dont like the taste at all....so I try my best to work with the butter cream one.  

Buttercream Icing

Blend together 2 1/2 TBS soft butter and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar.  

Add to it:  1 1/2 TBS milk and 3/4 tsp vanilla.

It's so simple and yummy.  Whenever I make the frosting though, I always double the recipe for one batch of cookies and it seems to come out just about right.

So after you decorate the cookies however you like and they dry... here are a few easy steps to put it all together.

I forgot to mention that it's sometimes a little tough to get the candy stick into the cookie correctly.  I do recommend cutting the cookies a little thicker and then placing them on the cookie sheet.  I like to insert the stick with them ready to bake.  Go slowly and I try to spin the stick carefully as I slide it up.  Go about half way up... and make sure to let them cool a little before removing them from the cookie sheet. This all sounds funny I know, but I'm not sure how else to explain it!

All the craft stores have these like longer treat/candy bags.  Put your cookie inside gently and then pinch the bottom and tie it together with a ribbon or whatever you have.

So this is pretty random, but I didn't have access to anything to use for weight this morning when I was making this.  It rained so I couldnt get to the beach for sand (which I prefer) and I was in a hurry.  So I used two bags of Malta's version of powdered sugar.  Although after I bought it and tried it, I realized I would never use it again because I dont know what it really is.  It was way to fine.  Anyways... For this bouquet, I just used a simple gift bag I had.  You can use anything from a bag to a container or be creative!  You just need to make sure you have weight on the bottom.

On top of the icing bags, I cut a piece of floral foam or whatever you call that stuff and placed it inside.  I used the stiffer one (there are two kinds for real and artificial flowers), because I think it holds the sticks more securely.   

Then start putting tissue around the outside of the foam.  I cut one piece of tissue in half, and then kind of pinch the center of that piece and whip it in one direction to make the rest rise up.  If that makes sense?  Or do what you need to do to be able to tuck it into the sides.  Keep the back a little higher and the front shorter.

After you have all your tissue in, put something small on top of the remaining green foam so you can't see it.

This part I think is one of the most important and something I learned by trial and error.  I used to always take the cookies on the stick and push it down into the foam where i wanted them.  This sometimes caused the cookies to come off the stick because of the force when I would push it down.  I also bake my cookies so they are very soft and so because of that, I have to be so gentle when putting it together.  So anyways, as logical as this is... it just took me a while to figure out that I needed to use a separate candy stick to just make all the holes. Then i could just slide the finished product into the foam without applying pressure.  

You can arrange them anyway you like.  I usually do like three in the back, one in the middle, and then two short ones in the front on the sides.  The bigger the container, obviously the more you can do.

Good luck!!!