Valentines day cookies

Sweets for your Sweet

theres a white blanket over everything in rome at the moment, so spread a little cookie love and snuggle down on the couch with a good movie

  

chocolate sugar cookies decorated with royal icing

how do you buy your icing sugar? how about in 125gr packets with a whole lot of wasted packaging materials!

even little piggies can be cute!

you could put the in a box with tissue paper, eat them straight away, give them away to your darling, your mother or  the bergie on the corner, they will still taste good and be welcomed with open mouths :)

and then these, a few squirrels thrown in the mix. the one in the orange jumpsuit is called  Dr Evil

and i got a new power tool! who new black and decker made mixers!

this is what they look like when baked

Recipe for chocolate sugar cookies:
quoted from joy of baking

Chocolate Sugar Cookies:

2 3/4 cups (355 grams) all purposeflour

3/4 cup (75 grams) unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon (4 grams)baking powder

1 cup (227 grams) unsaltedbutter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated whitesugar

2 largeeggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.


Note: If you are not going to frost the baked cookies, you may want to sprinkle the unbaked cookies with crystal or sparkling sugar.


Bake cookies for about 10 -12 minutes(depending on size) or until they are firm around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing, if desired. Be sure that the frosting on the cookies dries completely before storing. (This may take several hours.) Frosted cookies will keep several days in an airtight container. Store between layers of parchment paper or wax paper.

Makes about 36 - 4 inch (10 cm) cookies.