YELLOW RIBBON COOKIES!

last weekend, we went to mom's for david's goodbye dinner. he left wednesday to go to his next duty assignment which is in virginia. so for dessert, i made these cute lil yellow ribbon cookies. i am so pleased with how they turned out.

i didn't want to buy the refrigerator dough at the store, so i decided to search the net and find a good recipe. and guess what? i did. the got the following recipe from all recipes and was submitted by laura (unknown last name)

sugar cookie cutouts

1 cup butter, softened (i used margarine)
1 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup colored sugar for decoration (optional)

1. in a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. stir in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. sift together the flour and baking powder, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the heavy cream. cover dough and chill for 2 to 3 hours until firm.
2. preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). grease cookie sheets.
3. on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutters. place cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. sprinkle with colored sugars if desired.
4. bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven until bottoms and edges of cookies are light brown. remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks. store in airtight container.

this recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies, but of course that all depends on the size of your cookie cutters. i used a fairly large one, so i didn't get that many. i got about 25 cookies.

now when i went to look for some frosting in my pantry, i was saddened to find that i didn't have any. so i searched all recipes again and found the best frosting recipe. i kid you not. this tastes like the frosting on cookies from a cookie bouquet place. this recipe was submitted by kathy brandt.

sugar cookie frosting

4 cups of confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup shortening
5-7 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (optional)
food coloring (optional)

1. in a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. gradually mix in the milk and extact(s) with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about five minutes. color with food coloring if desired.

i have also used this frosting to frost cupcakes and it is good. will be the frosting i use from now on (that is if i don't have the ingredients on hand, or i am feeling lazy ;)

enjoy!