Saturday, February 27, 2010

Sweet Melissa Sundays (SMS) ~ Sugar Cookies

From THE SWEET MELISSA BAKING BOOK (page 142-143)

Sugar Cookies



is today’s featured recipe in the baking group blog



Sweet Melissa Sundays, acronym (SMS),



which is hosted today by Nina of Nina's Cupcakes.



Check out Nina’s blog for the Sugar Cookie recipe.



This is my first post with the (SMS) group. I look forward to baking the recipes in Melissa's book and meeting new bloggers along the way! I also look forward to hosting. Sounds like fun!




I’ve made Sugar Cookies years ago, but used confectioner’s sugar as one of my ingredients. This recipe doesn’t contain this sugar. However, it is very easy and simple to make…and delicious!



The changes I made to this recipe:

I doubled the amount of vanilla extract. I always use the best ingredients when I bake. My brand of choice is Masseys Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.



I halved the dough and added food coloring to one batch. I thought it would be fun to create a yin/yang look for my sugar cookies...especially since the logo for
Baking is my Zen has a yin/yang symbol.








So, now for a taste test…yum…they were good! It had just the right amount of lemon zest and vanilla.

I enjoyed this cookie and really liked how the
pink & beige yin/yang look turned out.
For a first attempt…not bad.



I made several spin-offs from the yin/yang cookie:

~ cookie with a heart in the middle



~ cookie with dragees tracing the yin/yang curve



~ cookie with sanding sugar on top



~ cookie with yin/yang symbol



Give it a whirl. Get creative with other ideas!



Peace in Baking,
Carmen

Baking is my Zen…sweet nibbles for the soul

12 comments:

Candy said...

Welcome to the group! Your cookies are adorable and look delicous!

k.a.r.e.n said...

Those are the cutest cookies! Welcome to the group!

Flourchild said...

Welcome to your first baking day with SMS! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It's a fun group and it is nice learning and seeing new food/baking ideas!
Your cookies look good and Im sure they tasted wonderful!

Nina said...

Welcome to the group and thank you for baking with me! I love the yin-yang cookies, they look so amazing!

Katiecakes said...

Awh, super cute cookies!

Welcome to the group :D

Katie xox

Julie said...

Welcome to the group!

Fantastic first post, these are so cute!

Susan said...

Welcome to the group! Your cookies are beautiful and your photos are gorgeous!

Unknown said...

Welcome to the group! I love this group - it's small and lots of fun :)

Your cookies look wonderful! It was nice to see so much variety this week, everyone had different ideas for these cookies.

Mara Campbell said...

Welcome to the group! I am a newbie, too. I love your yin and yang cookies, so clever!! I can't wait to see more of your culinary creations.

Hanaâ said...

Welcome to SMS!
Your cookies are so cute! Can't say I've ever seen ying/yang cookies before.

Thanks for the info on the bake sale (in your newer post). I will have to think about it. I live in Minnesota and it doesn't look like it's covered yet. I usually hold bake sales at work. Is it necessary to have them at a certain place?? Or can it be anywhere? Sorry to bug you w/these questions. I'll just click on the SOS link and read the details. Thanks for posting it. It's a great cause, that's close to home.

Baking is my Zen...sweet nibbles for the soul said...

Hi Hanaa,

I've sent you an email...

Erica said...

Those cookies are so cute!They look delicious, Carmen!

DO NOT USE MY PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT PERMISSION

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY (UNLESS INDICATED) IN THIS BLOG BELONGS TO CARMEN ORTIZ OF BAKING IS MY ZEN.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.

Thank You.

~ Carmen Ortiz - blogger (Baking is my Zen)