Friday, August 23, 2013

Swig Sugar Cookies

Now that we live in Southern Utah there are a new things that just seem to be expected.  A. We are Mormon and B. we love Swig.  Sadly both are true, so I was excited to find this recipe so we can make these cookies whenever my kids want them.  I think the trick is the cream of tartar in the cookie that makes them so good, it is basically a Snickerdoodle without being rolled in the cinnamon and sugar. So let us begin!

Swig Sugar Cookies 

1 c. Butter at room temp
3/4 c. Vegetable Oil (I used Olive Oil cause that's what I have)
1 1/4 c. Sugar
3/4 c. Powdered Sugar
2 T. Water
2 Eggs
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Cream of Tartar
1 t. Salt
5 1/2 c. Flour

1. Cream together butter, oil, sugars, water and eggs. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix until everything is well combined.  The dough should be a little crumbly and not sticky at all. 
2. Roll dough into golf ball sized balls and place on cookie sheets.  With the bottom of a glass dip into 1/4 c. sugar and a pinch of salt (in addition to the ingredients listed above) and firmly press the cookie so that the edges crack.
3. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until the bottoms are barely browning.  Move cookies to a cooling rack and into the refrigerator once completely cooled.

Now lets make that famous pink frosting!

Sour Cream Frosting

1/2 c. Butter at room temp
3/4 c. Sour Cream
2 lbs. Powdered Sugar (approximately 7.5 cups)
1 t. Salt
1/4 c. Milk
Red Food Coloring

Start by creaming together butter, sour cream and salt and then slowly add powdered sugar.  When it gets so thick its not like frosting add a slash of milk.  Alternate this process until your frosting is the desired consistency.  Add 2 drop of red food coloring and whip on high for 1 minute.

Keep cookies in a sealed container until they are ready to serve.  The magic of a Swig Sugar Cookie is that the cookies are cold and the frosting is room temperature.  Frost cookies right before serving (if you need to make them in advance and need to refrigerate the frosting make sure you give it time to warm up a little before serving).

Monster Cookies

I love baking and trying new recipes.  This year church starts at 1:00 which gives me plenty of time to make cookies for school lunches for me and my sisters family.  In college one of my roommates used to make us cookies on Sundays and one of our favorites was her Monster Cookies.  I have been looking for something similar and I might have stumbled upon something here thanks to the powers of Pinterest and Sally's Baking Addiction!

         Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup Crisco
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup quick oats (not instant or whole-rolled oats)*
  • 3/4 cup M&Ms (any size or variety - I used peanut butter, plain, and mini M&Ms)
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
  2. In a large bowl, using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed, about 3 minutes. Mix in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla (in that order). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the baking soda and flour. Do not over mix. Fold in the quick oats, M&Ms, and chocolate chips. If the dough is very soft and unmanageable by hand, chill the dough for 30 minutes before rolling.
  3. Rolls balls of dough, about 2 Tablespoons of dough per ball, onto prepared baking sheet. Press a few extra M&Ms on top for looks, if preferred. Bake for 9-10 minutes - do not bake past 10 minutes. The cookies will appear undone. I too mine out at 9 minutes, which is recommended. Slightly press down the baked cookies with the back of a spoon, since the cookies only slightly spread in the oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cookies will firm up as they cool. Store cookies covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. Cookies freeze well.
Notes
* Please use quick oats in this recipe. You need the slightly finer texture from the quick oats in order to give the cookies a more uniform texture. Quick oats will act more as a binder in this recipe than whole oats would, since the consistency is more powdery and the oats are smaller in size.
Recipe Source: SALLYSBAKINGADDICTION.COM

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Washington Rec Center

Since we have been in Utah we have been checking out all the local watering holes and we so far we love the Rec Center the best! It has everything from little babies to the adults entertained all in one place!
James loves the turbo slide, Logan loves the play area, Carson loves the lazy river, and I love that everyone is having fun and no one is crying!
Carson will be attending preschool there starting next week so we will be getting to know them a little better!

James, second grade looks good on you!

James went back to school yesterday and boy is he excited to be in second grade.  It was fun to be in the classroom as he realized he already knew 2 of the kids in his class (Thank you church!). James teacher, Ms. Price, has been teaching 3rd grade and even she's excited for 2nd grade!

Thursday, August 8, 2013

My kitchen

I finally got my kitchen cleaned!  One of the things I hate most about moving is finding homes for all our stuff. This kitchen has the most fantastic pantry and I have reworked it once and would like to do it again when the boys are in school.  So without further ado....my kitchen!