There’s just something that is so simple about baking cookies with children. Instead of rounding up the best Valentine’s Day gifts, promotions and deals, I am dedicating this year, 2014, to cookies! Yup! It’s been one heck of a chilly, willy winter, and there is nothing more intimate and sweet (literally) then baking cookies with your loved ones for Valentine’s Day. There is no money exchanged, no unwrapping presents, rather, just that treasured smile when you each bite into the fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie and hope the warm, gooey sugars don’t fall out of your mouth from your grin ear-to-ear.
Wow, yes, I want that memory! Give me instructions . . . now! We will. And, the glory this year, is Valentine’s Day goes all weekend long, so cookie-baking starts now and just keeps going. Plus, there are no preservatives or anything funky in these treats, they are coming straight from your oven. It’s okay to indulge in sweets together for celebratory days, especially, homemade goodies.
Iconic sugar cookie recipe–as seen on TV.
My two favorites this year dictate that it’s a sugar cookie year. Batter up (oh, the puns are flowing today), is darling mom of three, Kelly Manning, and owner, creator and magician behind Acorn Catering. She made the most darling holiday cookies for our childrens’ school party in December, and I cannot disclose how many I ate, instead, I had to find an excuse for her to make me some more. Valentine’s Day! I also had her make balloon sugar cookies for International Random Acts of Kindness Week (Feb. 10-16, 2014). It was the best gesture of the week, everyone at Fox and KWGN went crazy for Kelly’s sugar cookie surprises. I knew this recipe had to be passed on.
Kelly has cutouts for just about every holiday and lets the kids do the sprinkles. “To maintain my sanity, I have sprinkles and frosting just for them and let them go crazy decorating their creations. My girls love to stir and dump ingredients into the mixing bowl. And, of course eating is the best part, so I introduce them to different ingredients so they’ll try eating new things,” she explains.
Here’s Kelly’s SUPURB SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE.
[yumprint-recipe id=’9′]Two-for-one Recipe
lavender cookies
And one more for you. My family tried this recipe in late August with fresh lavender flowers from my garden and I am positive I made new friends with this recipe when the children went back to school. We add a bit more lavender then it calls for, and I got my most recent batch of dried leaves from local Savory Spice Shop. I had my daughter and her amazing helper make some Valentine’s Day love for the neighborhood. Enjoy! Erica and Dora recommend using this short-bread recipe from Martha Stewart. The girls also used this site for accurate lavender measurements since there are variations when you are using dried versus fresh herbs. agardenforthehouse.com/2013/06/easy-lavender-shortbread-cookies/
Author: Julie Bielenberg
Julie is a mama of three who travels in search of fields, farms, families and more. Sometimes . . . she finds herself in often uncovered, or understated locales, which has since become her niche.
Amber Johnson
These look delicious! She also needs to give tips on decorating them.