Roll-Out Cookies

I thought this post would be up sooner, but I am writing this while watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics-perfect timing! I wanted to create a themed post for this week and what a great event to base this post on, The 2012 Summer Olympics in London! Go Team USA!

My mom has had this recipe since I was little, and I'm not sure why she still has it on the same post it note! I think it's time to get a new one, and maybe even laminate it. These cookies are SO popular around here and I am constantly being asked for the recipe. I've made them in almost every shape possible, on sticks, in bags, big, small, yet I'm already thinking up some more possibilities.

These cookies are a bit time consuming, from making the dough, refrigerating it, and baking, to decorating, drying and packaging them. Usually while decorating, we have a line. My mom usually icings, I pipe the outline and detail, and little Maddie is our sprinkler and mixer. In our house, we mix with our hands because we triple, sometimes quadruple the batter, and it's easier that way and she ALWAYS volunteers. 

Heres a quick rundown of how this recipe works and my little tricks I've learned throughout the years...

MIXING

Like I said before- We mix with our hands. Wash them real good, and get your hands in that bowl. Here- we were mixing with a spoon, but once we poured flour in, my hands were covered in dough. 

CHILLING

 Ball it up in about softball sizes and wrap in waxed paper. If you can't wait, freeze it for about half an hour or until it's a bit easier to work with. I made mine the night before and left it in the fridge until i was ready to work with it. 

ROLLING AND CUTTING

Flour your surface really well. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough ball by ball...how awkward...to 1/4th of an inch and cut with the desired cookie cutters. Can you guess what I'm making?

BAKING

Arrange cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. In this case, my cookies are two separate pieces. If you put them close, they will bake and form one cookie. 

DECORATING

Make your icing! Simple royal icing! 

Dye it and Ice your cookies. I use a knife, but I'd really like to teach myself how to flood.

Add Sprinkles and voila! 

I think Michael Phelps would like a medal line up like this...although legit gold is cool too... 

The glitter on these cookies seriously tops them. 

I decided not to pipe anything on these because I thought it would take away from them as opposed to enhancing them. Heres the recipe so you can try these cookies out for yourself. Make sure to make a lot... they go so fast. Hope you Enjoy! 

Roll-Out Cookies

Ingredients:

-1 cup (2 sticks) margarine, softened. NOT MELTED.

-1 egg

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/2 tsp. almond extract

-1 tsp. baking soda

-1 tsp. cream of tarter

-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

-2 1/2 (usually 3) cups of flour

Directions: 

1. Combine first 6 ingredients, mixing with a spoon. DO NOT use an electric mixer. 

2. Add powdered sugar, then flour. Making sure each sugar is completely blended before flour is added. 

3. Split dough into even balls, usually about softball size, and wrap in waxed paper. Chill in fridge over night, or in freezer until firm. 

3. Heat oven to 350*. Unwrap dough, one ball at a time, and roll with a rolling pin onto a floured surface to about 1/4th inch thick. Use cookie cutters or objects to cut shapes.

4. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool and ice with Royal Icing. 

Royal Icing:

-1 lb powdered sugar

-3 Large Egg Whites 

Directions: 

Add ingredients and beat with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes. Add very small amounts of water to thin the icing if needed. 

Cookie Dough Truffles

First of all, excuse the lack of my unprofessionalism here. I’m still getting used to this whole blog thing, so I’m hoping my first post isn’t terrible. I am part of a very huge, close family. Not only am I one of four children in my family, but most of my cousins are also one of four. My mom grew up with 3 bothers and 3 sisters, right smack in the middle of it all. My grandmother and grandfather still to this day, have parties and BBQ’s with all 7 kids, their spouses and 19 of us grandchildren. When I bake for my grandma’s gatherings, it means baking. A LOT.

Originally, for the 4^th of July party, I was going to bake cupcakes and decorate them like snow cones, inspired by Bakerella. But as I scrolled through her AMAZING blog, I found these Cookie Dough Truffles.

I decided to whip a quick batch of these up for my boyfriend’s 21^st birthday as a test run, and they were FLIPPING AMAZING and SO EASY! I brought a few extras home and they were gone in an hour. They are no bake and so quick, easy and ADORABLE. My first batch came out a bit better than the second, but I’ll still post pictures of mine anyway.

My cousin, Madison, usually helps bake and is all in when we ask if she wants to mix with her hands. She was dying to stick her fingers in the batter but this recipe called for an electric mixer. This was after mixing, we used a rubber spatula to fold in the chocolate chips.

This time, the batter was mixed a little TOO well and I had to actually freeze the dough chunks before rolling them into balls and freezing them again for dipping.

 While the dough sat in the freezer, Maddie and I wrote on the sticks! USA!

Melted the chocolate! I find it’s a lot easier to melt the chocolate over low heat on the stove and add a little vegetable oil to thin out the chocolate. 

Dipped and sprinkled by Maddie.  She is also usually the elected sprinkler girl.

July 5th, phone calls and facebook messages were non-stop all day telling me how good the pops were!  Heres the recipe from Bakerella. Thank you for your AMAZING recipe. This will definitely be made hundreds of times over! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
from The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook

My modifications are in green!

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
chocolate candy coating
popsicle sticks, cut in half (use kitchen scissors to make a clean, smooth cut)

1. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes)
2. Mix in milk and vanilla.
3. Add flour and salt and mix on low until combined.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Chill dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes until firm enough to roll or scoop into 1-inch balls.
6. Place rolled balls on a wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. (I had mine in for about an hour so longer is okay, too)
7. Melt candy coating following instructions on the package. Remove a couple of balls from the freezer at a time and insert the cut stick into the ball. Dip in candy coating and let any excess fall off back into the bowl. For this step, I used regular bagged Toll House chocolate chips and melted them over the stove in a pot. I added small amounts of vegetable oil to thin out the chocolate. I think this tastes a little better in the long run than candy coating. Before dipping the entire ball into the chocolate, I dipped the end of the stick in chocolate so that it stuck a little better.
8.Add small sprinkles on top and place on wax paper to set. If the chocolate pools at the bottom of the ball, dot the balls on the wax paper until most of it is pulled off the ball and then place it on a clean spot of the wax paper to set.
9. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.