Valentine Cookie Decorating Party

Another fun parent/child activity at Smiling Tree Farm here in Santa Rosa.  When parents sign up for this “cooking” class they know they are signing up for a sweet morning filled with sugar and more sugar.  For some of the kids this is their one big sweet splurge.  One of the moms said they elimate any conflict about too many sweets by not having any in their house at all.  A dad said they reserve sweets for special occasions.  So, today was that day.  We had plates of sugar cookies in enticing shapes (hearts of all sizes, doves, teddy bears and little sweet men).  Each child had their own dish of candy toppings including m&m’s, raisins, red hots and of course conversation hearts.  After several cookie decorating workshops I’ve realized this is a way to have portion control and no worries about little fingers and possible “cross contamination”.  Some of the kids piled their cookies high with frosting, sprinkles and candies.  Some ate their candies first then decorated with icing only.  The kids and parents were free to decorate and eat as many cookies as they wanted.  My hope was that they would take home more than they ate but it was probably a toss up. 

 

After everyone had their fill of decorating we moved into the living room and strung love bead braclets.  It was such a beautiful day that the kids wanted to go outside to play so off everyone went to swing and explore.  We came back inside for stories, songs and a cup of tea and hot chocolate and one more cookie and cupcake for the road.  This was definetly a sweet day of sugar, quality time and memory making.

Special thanks to my friend Robin who helped me set up and keep things going…and clean up too….what a friend!!

 

 Cookies, cupcakes and frosting were all made for scratch.  Here are my recipes:

 

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (from Martha Stewart)

makes 18-24 regular cupcakes …. 83 mini cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder                                                                                              1 1/2 cups flour                                                                                                                              1 1/2 cups sugar                                                                                                                             1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda                                                                                                        3/4 teaspoons baking powder                                                                                                      3/4 teaspoons salt                                                                                                                           2 large eggs                                                                                                                                     3/4 cup warm water                                                                                                                        3/4 cup buttermilk                                                                                                                          3 tablespoons vegetable oil                                                                                                            1 teaspoon vanila extract

 

1. preheat oven to 350.  Line muffins with paper liners.  Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

2.  Divide batter evenly among muffins cups, filling each 2/3 full.  Bake until tops spring back when touched , about 20minutes for full sized, 10minutes for mini cakes.

 

 Gail’s Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies — my girlfriend Carol named these, I think I found the recipe in a magazine and it’s the one that all my kids took to class and entered in the Sonoma County fair. 

4 1/2 cups flour                                                                                                                               1tsp baking powder                                                                                                                      1/2 tsp baking soda                                                                                                                         1/2 tsp salt                                                                                                                                    1/4 tsp nutmeg                                                                                                                              

1 cup soft butter                                                                                                                             1 1/2 cups sugar                                                                                                                             1 egg                                                                                                                                               1/2 cup sour cream                                                                                                                        1 tsp vanilla

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.  Beat butter, sugar and egg till light and fluffy.  At low speed, beat in sour cream and vanilla till smooth.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating till well combined.  Wrap in waxed paper or foil:  refrigerate several hours or overnight. Divide into 4 parts then roll out and cut.

Bake at 350 degrees aprox 8 minutes

Note:  I still wrap sandwiches in waxed paper but find this telling of how old this recipe is that it reccomends waxed paper or foil…..I wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze

 

Frosting…..one of the dads asked if it’s easy to make frosting…..YES!

Powdered sugar, some butter, a little bit of milk, sprinkle of vanilla, dash of salt…..beat ’til smooth and fluffy……………I’m pretty sure there’s a real recipe on the box of powdered sugar

 

 

Tags: cookies, recipes, valentines