Saturday, January 29, 2011

Cookies and Leggin’s

Just a quickie to post two requests: 

First, the Lime Sugar Cookie recipe.  This is from America’s Test Kitchen which is by far our favorite place for recipes.  I’ve had very few recipes that did NOT turn out fantastically, and those I’ve chalked up to problems at altitude.  They have a show on PBS, and all the recipes from the current season are online for free.  They also have lots of cookbooks, which we find at Costco fairly often for pretty cheap (this and this are our favorites).  LOOOVE ATK!!!

Anyway, here’s the Sugar Cookie recipe, and the lime variation at the bottom:

2 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1.  Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spread 1/2 cup of the sugar in a shallow dish for rolling.  In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. 

2.  In a large bowl, beat the butter and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes.  Beat in the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 20 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

3.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds.  give the dough a few final stirs with a rubber spatula to make sure it is well combined.

4.  Roll 2 tablespoons dough into balls with wet hands, then roll in the sugar to coat.  Lay the balls on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart.  Flatten the cookies to a 3/4-inch thickness with the buttered and sugared bottom of a drinking glass.  Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the flattened tops. 

5.  Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 10-12 minutes, rotating each sheet halfway through baking.

6.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

For lime cookies:

Process the 1/2 cup sugar in step 1 with 1 teaspoon grated fresh lime zest until fragrant, about 10 seconds.  Add 2 teaspoons grated fresh lime zest to the dough with the eggs.

And as a side note, since I’m on the subject of favorites in the kitchen, cookies are SO much easier to make if you have this beater blade for your KitchenAid- it scrapes down the sides as you go, making creaming so easy!!! 

(As a side note, you can blame my enthusiasm for anything baking related on being pregnant.  That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.)

And second- Piper’s leggings are BabyLegs- and one of the most genius of inventions.  We made teeny tiny ones for Piper last winter, because the “real” ones were way too big for her.  Now BabyLegs are making newborn-sized ones, too.  I really like them for running around the house- they protect her knees and keep her warm, but don’t get in the way of  her trying to move, either.  We’ve used them as tight-substitutes and extra layers, too.  And for hospital stays?  Brilliant!  Wish we had them in the NICU.

Happy baking!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe!

    And yes, baby legs are awesome. We got some for Claire's OHS and her collection of them has grown quite a bit since then!

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  2. Hey thanks for the info on baby legs!!! I will definitely be ordering some of those! In three's!! I think Piper should get some kind of commission as she is a great model for baby legs and she is making them money! Ha!! :) Oh yea and I got to meet Pat Winders at the Ds clinic at Childrens. You are right, she is amazing!! And so nice!

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