Cookies:
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 tsp. vanilla extract
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 tsp. vanilla extract
Frosting:
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
7-8 tbsp. milk (plus more, as needed)
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
7-8 tbsp. milk (plus more, as needed)
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)
- Preheat your oven to
350˚ F.
- Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking
mat.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt;
whisk together until blended well.
- In another bowl combine the
butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until soft and
fluffy.
- Beat your eggs in the butter/sugar, one at a time, mixing well
after each egg. Blend in the
vanilla.
- With your mixer on low, add in 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time
until all the ingredients are evenly mixed and incorporated. Cover and
chill the dough
for 1 hour. Although I found 30 minutes worked well too.
Annie's recipes calls for to scoop a scant quarter cup of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the
ball slightly and place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the
remaining dough, spacing the cookies at least 2-3 inches apart.
I tried three different ways to see which would result in the nicest looking cookie.
A.) I placed the dough onto parchment paper, making a basic log, and
then rolled the dough into a "snake" and twisted the ends of the
parchment paper into opposite directions, to compact the cookie dough,
and then placed it in the fridge to chill. After 30 minutes I cut them
into 1/4" slices. (Example: White cookie in the picture)
The parchment cookie made a compact "coin-like" shaped cookie.
B.) I chilled the dough, covered in plastic, for 30 minutes then took
the dough out rolled it into a 1" ball and took a bottom-floured glass
and pressed down on the ball to form a more circular cookie. (Example:
Pink cookie in the picture)
The ball/flattened cookie cracked a bit on the sides, but you could
press your finger over the cracks to fix this, but a they turned out to
me of a store-purchased cookie.
C.) I rolled the dough into a 1" ball and then placed them onto the cookie sheet without pressing them down.
The ball effect turned out just like it went in.. a ball and not very well cooked, as I would have liked it.
In the end I liked the way B cookie turned out.
- Bake
the cookies about 10-12 minutes or just until set. Do not over bake the
cookies letting them turn brown! Let the cookies cool on the
baking sheet for several minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack
to cool.
- In a small sauce pan melt the butter.
- In a medium bowl add the confectioners sugar.
- Add the melted butter, vanilla,
and milk to the bowl and whisk until smooth. You might need to add more milk, but do so by a teaspoon at a time.
- I frosted half my cookies with the white frosting then added 6 drops
of red food coloring to create the sweet pink color and then frosted my
remaining cookies and added Valentine heart sprinkles to the cookies.
Store in an
airtight container.
