Yes We Can . . . Bake Cookies!

I was inspired by Adriana's cupcake. I initially thought I'd make cupcakes, too, but then I decided to make sugar cookies instead. Unfortunately (as you can see in the picture of the larger-sized cookies), I ran out of my blue and then red sugars! But you get the general idea.




This is the sugar cookie recipe I grew up with. I like to roll them thin and bake them until they're starting to brown, so they're nice and crispy brown-buttery. YMMV. To make the design, I printed out a couple of the pumpkin stencils from Yes We Carve, cut them two ways (so I'd have one stencil for the white sugar and the other for the colored), and found cutters the right size. I had a biscuit cutter just right for the O in the BOO! stencil; for the larger size (from No More Tricks!) I used the mouth of a drinking glass.

Miller's Cookies for Kids

1 C unsalted butter
2/3 C sugar
3 T dark brown sugar
3/4 t salt
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
3 C flour

Cream butter and sugars together, then beat in salt, vanilla and eggs. Mix in flour until just incorporated; do not overbeat. Make dough into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate (I sometimes skip this step, but it makes it easier to roll them out if you don't). After a few hours in the fridge, preheat oven to 350 and roll out dough on well-floured surface to desired thickness (I prefer 1/8"; I wouldn't go much thicker than 3/16"). Cut into desired shapes, and arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired. Bake 12-15 minutes on insulated sheets, 10-12 on noninsulated. Transfer to racks and let cool, then ice if desired (and you didn't sprinkle them with sugar).