Friday, January 29, 2010

Making a "Super Kid" Happy

This week one of my daughters is "Super Kid of the Week" at preschool.  This is a big deal dontcha know?  This week I also bought the new BHG magazine with these cute little cookies on the cover.
They sounded simple enough.  I didn't have a couple of things...one being the fluted edge cookie cutter so I just used a drab ole round one.  The other thing I didn't have was ground vanilla beans so I just scraped the beans out of a pod and also used vanilla extract on top of that.  Because she is super kid I thought that stars would be fun in the middle and I just so happended to have a 1" star cookie cutter from Christmas.   I'll post the recipe below, but honestly I didn't like making these.  The dough is really crumbly and hard to work with, the bottom cookies that are just plain ole circles ended up larger than the cutout cookies and since you are supposed to sandwich them together that doesn't work out too well.  I ended up having to literally cut the bottom cookies around their edges to make them work. 

But...........despite all of this, when they were complete, my daughter was over the moon happy with them.  I got a huge thank you and a big hug.  She cannot wait to take them school to give to her friends, along with about 10 things for show and tell.  It made it all worth it (but not so worth it that I wouldn't just buy a couple of rolls of sugar cookies next time :))


..for a little side fun, my little man just turned 4 months old the other day and I found a cute way to remember it.  Just making good use of my PB Pillows

Vanilla Dessert Sandwiches
(courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens)

Prep: 45 min  Bake 10 Min Per Batch
Chill: 30 Min.  Oven: 350 F
3 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. pure ground vanilla beans* or 2 tsp. vanilla extract
   Vanilla sugar (scrape vanilla beans and put pods in sugar jar, store indefinitely)
1 recipe Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (below)

1.  In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
2. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add granulated sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.  Beat in milk, vanilla, and ground vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer.  Stir in remaining four mixture by hand.  Dough will be soft.
3.  Divide dough in half.  Cover and chill dough about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.  On lightly foured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick.
4.  Preheat oven to 350 degreesF. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles from dough.  Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles from the centers of half the dough dircles.  Place dough circles on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.  Reroll scraps, including the 1-inch dough rounds, and cut out additional dough circles as directed.  Repeat with the remaining dough half.
5.  Sprinkle the dough circles that have the centers cut out with the vanilla sugar.  Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cookies cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute.  Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
6.  Spread bottoms of the solid cookies with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the vanilla cream cheese frosting.  Top each with one of the cookies with the center hole, sugar side up.  Refrigerate filled cookies to store.  MAKES 24 SANDWICH COOKIES.

VANILLA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
In a medium bowl stire together 6 ounces cream cheese, softened; 1/4 cup powdered sugar;and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth.

*GROUND VANILLA BEANS should not be confused with vanilla powder.




3 comments:

  1. Isn't it crazy what us momma's will do for our little ones. They are beautiful, but I have found rolls of suger cookies work the best too. I love the star and the blue icing very super.

    Cha Cha

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  2. I love the little one next to the PB pillow! That was a great idea!

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  3. Those cookies look great! And I agree with the pre-made dough from the store. And your little guy is a super cutie-pie...

    Danielle

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