Sugar Cookie Icing

Today was our fifth snow-day-so-stay-home-from-school day out of the last seven days of school. During our spare time my girls and I have been searching for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. We like to make them for Valentine's Day every year. Every year we try a new recipe. This time we tried more than one recipe and we still haven't found a keeper. I asked the girls if we should try another recipe today and they both said, "No!" so we didn't. I think my favorite one so far was this one from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. But I like the nutmeg in old-fashioned sugar cookies. So I would add 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg to the dough just for a little extra flavor. These cookies turn out nice and flat, unlike the big, poofy ones in the picture. They work great with our new favorite icing. This icing dries hard and glossy after a couple of hours and the cookies can be stacked and/or wrapped in cellophane. When using two colors, the top color doesn't mix in with the bottom color.

We filled some plastic candy making bottles that we found at JoAnn Fabric and Crafts with the icing. Then we squeezed it on with very little mess. Well, except for the sprinkles. They were a very large mess, but so worth it.

Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 teaspoons milk

4 teaspoons corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavoring

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and glossy. You may need to add 1/2 teaspoon of milk at a time to get the right consistency. Do not add extra corn syrup or it will take longer for the icing to dry. Divide into separate bowls and add food coloring to each. Dip cookies, paint them with a brush, or use plastic squirt bottles to frost.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing

You would not believe the amount of excitement that came from Aubrey when I told her we were making "pucakes" for family night this week. She loves to help make treats in the kitchen. I wanted to try a new frosting recipe and found this one posted by Ina Garten. I'm not usually a big fan of peanut butter cake or brownies, but this recipe reminded me of the peanut butter play dough I used to make for Olivia when she was Aubrey's age. We always ended up eating it all. It does taste very similar, only it's very, very light. So light that I thought it would lose its shape, but it didn't for several days. It's amazing that the cupcakes lasted that long in our house. It's all because of the "proper serving size" eating habit we started this month. Blast those cupcakes! I had to keep them out of sight.

Ingredients:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.