pink cookies & the bakery buttercream

I've had several people request this recipe, so here it is: the greatest sugar cookie recipe known to man. I got the cookie recipe from an Arc of Spokane newsletter about 15 years ago and have been using it ever since.

The frosting recipe was developed by my sister who opened a bakery once upon a time. She no longer owns the bakery, but I managed to memorize the recipe while working for her (on average I mixed, baked and frosted 15-20 dozen sugar cookies each week for a year) and scaled it down to a manageable size.

Pink Cookies

3 cups butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/4 tsp. vanilla
7 cups flour
1 1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and cream again. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt. The dough will be easier to handle if it is chilled, but it is actually pretty easy to work with if you skip the chill. Roll out to 1/4", cut into desired shapes and bake 10-12 minutes until cookies do not indent when touched and edges are very lightly browned.

The Bakery Butter-cream Frosting

2 cups butter, softened
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract (optional)
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1/3 c. cream (or almond milk)
2 lb. powdered sugar

Cream butter, extract(s), corn syrup and cream. Slowly stir in powdered sugar until incorporated, then whip to desired consistency. If frosting is too thick, use cream to adjust.

chocolate crinkles

I don't often make chocolate cookies, but when I do, I like to use the recipe for Chocolate Crinkles in my ancient Hershey's "Make it Chocolate!" cookbook. This past week, I tried making them with coconut oil for the first time and they turned out perfectly. We used them to make mini ice-cream sandwiches. :)

Here is the recipe with my adaptations, one of which is skipping the 6 hours of chill time because, in the memorable words of Sweet Brown, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

Chocolate Crinkles

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In large mixer bowl combine sugar and oil. Add cocoa; blend well. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt, blending well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched.