Joshie turned THREE! We had such fun day at my parents’ house, mainly directed by him since he’s in a SUPER bossy phase. Hilarious when it’s directed towards his brothers… not so much when it’s directed towards Jeffrey and me. My parents’ ordered this big balloon display from STL Balloons and an ice cream truck to come by!! He was shocked, and we all had so much fun. Since it was just the 7 of us, I didn’t really go all out like I usually would. Just a few details and lots of sugar. Joshie loves dinosaurs and the color blue which became the loosly-based-but-also-the-pandemic-so-whatever theme.
Since Joshie oddly doesn’t like chocolate, I made him my favorite sugar cookies and frosting but made them into easy bars. Like I said… pandemic whatever I’m not rolling and cutting these into shapes! SO simple and delicious. The cookie part is soft and fluffy and not too sweet. The frosting is from this recipe for swig cookies since I wanted that thicker frosting. SO good. If you’re using this cookie recipe for cut out holiday cookies, you might want a thinner frosting that dries. This recipe pairs really well together, but it’s not great for stacking and packaging. More just for eating.
SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR THE RECIPE!
For the party hats, I cut out a spikey shape, scored the edge, folded it, and used double stick tape to secure it to the side of the party hats.
I made Joshiesaurus tattoos- he loved them!! Purchase in my shop HERE.
I got the little dinosaurs (natural plastic, non-toxic) HERE and then just put them in a 3 shape on a grocery store cake.
Social-distanced ice cream truck party with cousins and neighbors!
Georgie being weird and charming.
Momtern and Dadtern!
Now for the cookie recipe that everyone loved!
COOKIE RECIPE:
- 1 c. butter or margarine (or half and half) room temp
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temp
- 2 tbsp whole milk, room temp
- 2 tsp real vanilla extract
- 3 c. flour (I always bake with bread flour but AP is fine)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Sift all dry ingredients and set aside.
- Mix butter and sugar til fluffy 2-3 min.
- Add egg and mix well.
- Add vanilla.
- Slowly mix in dry ingredients alternating with milk.
- Mix until just combined.
- For bar cookies: press dough into a small sheet pan lined with parchment paper, press plastic wrap on top of the dough, and chill for a couple hours or overnight.
- For cut out cookies, press dough into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap, chill for a couple hours or overnight. Flour the counter and dough really well. Roll out super thin if you want them to keep their shape otherwise they will puff up and be delicious, but not perfectly shaped. Might want to add a little more flour to the dough as you roll it out. Make sure to pop them back into the fridge or freezer once they’re shaped and on parchment lined baking pans before you put them in the oven to bake.
- Bake 350º for 10-12 minutes until BARELY golden- for real. Don’t over bake these! They will continue cooking in the pan after you take them out of the oven.
- Once cooled, use the parchment paper to peel the bars out of the pan, ice, and slice. Again, chill if you want cutting to be super easy.
COOKIE BAR FROSTING RECIPE:
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoon sour cream
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla
- dash of salt
- 1 drop red food coloring
- 1-2 tablespoons milk**
Mix all but food coloring and milk together until fluffy. Add food color if you want. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time if needed to thin out or soften the frosting. Spread onto cookies once cookie has been completely cooled.
Keep in an airtight container room temp for a couple days or frozen to keep perfectly fresh.
Here’s what the cookies look like rolled and cut before decorating. A little soft and fluffy, a lot yummy!
ICING FROSTING RECIPE:
9 tbsp butter, room temp
6 cups powdered sugar, SIFTED for real it makes a difference- sorry
3 tsp vanilla
1/4 + 1/8 cup whole milk
Mix all together until fluffy. You may need to add more milk if you want it drippier. Separate into bowls and add in food coloring.
xo,
L