Mama J's Sugar Cookies

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine's Day weekend. While I know this is not everyone's most favorite holiday, I tend to enjoy something nice like LOVE to celebrate when winter has been dragging on with apparently no end in sight (yes, we got more snow last night...sigh).

Today, I thought I'd share with you the delicious little Valentine cookies I made to celebrate the day. This recipe comes straight from my mom's kitchen, so it is sure to delight :)

Step One: Gather the ingredients.

Step Two: Mix the wet and dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

Step Three: Roll out cookie dough to desired thickness, and cut out cookies. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for 6 minutes, or until slightly golden. Remove to a wire cooling rack.

Step Four: While cookies are cooling, mix up the frosting.

Step Five: Decorate to your heart's content. Enlist some helpers if you choose. I kept my decorations pretty basic (in an race to be able to devour these delightful cookies sooner) but you can get as fancy as you like with the decorating.

ON A SIDE NOTE: These cookies are excellent in any shape, so don't let my Valentine's version stop you from cutting some out for say the upcoming Easter holiday...Easter eggs and bunny cookies perhaps?

MAMA J'S SUGAR COOKIES | Yield: 3-4 Dozen | Total Time: About 3 hours give or take

INGREDIENTS:

COOKIES:
1 C butter, softened
2 C sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 C flour
1 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp baking soda

FROSTING:
1 Tbsp butter, melted
Powdered sugar - you'll need almost an entire bag depending on how much frosting you like
Milk, tsp at a time
1 tsp vanilla
food coloring

DIRECTIONS:

COOKIES:
Combine butter, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a paddle attachment to mix together. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Cover bowl, and chill dough in the fridge for at least 1.5hrs (I chilled my dough overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove cookie dough from fridge, and roll out on a well-floured surface to desired thickness. (My cookies were a little under 1/4" thick.) Cut out shapes using your favorite cookie cutter. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and bake for 6 minutes, or until slightly golden. Remove to a wire cooling rack.

FROSTING:
In a medium, microwave safe bowl, melt 1 Tbsp butter. Add a small amount of powdered sugar, and mix to combine. Add 1 tsp vanilla, and a little more powdered sugar until combined. Alternate adding 1 tsp milk at a time, with additional powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Add a few drops of food coloring at the end.

Frost cooled cookies, and decorate with sprinkles if you choose.

Happy Valentine's Day!