Just a BOOtiful Weekend

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween, and I loved this beautiful weekend! Did you see my sweet little giraffe? He was the cutest thing! Well, Saturday I made cookies for Halloween; it is my favorite cookie recipe...they are WONDERFUL. I made them for our trick-AH-treaties, but sadly, we didn't have any! HA, oh well! If you know where we live, you'd know that it would be amazing to have any Halloween guest. That just means more cookies for us and for Shad's coworkers!

Here is the best recipe EVER!
Sugar Cookies:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites:
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups confectioners sugar

For Sugar Cookies: In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside, 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 and 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. 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.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. Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes (depending on size) or until they are brown 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 to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours.)

For Royal Icing with Egg Whites: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use. I used the color gels from Wilton that you can get from Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby to color the icing. Just a small little dab with a toothpick will color it plenty.