Feeling Green Yet?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

We started our St. Patrick's Day Celebration on Saturday with the Elmhurst Parade!

This was the beginning of our St. Patrick's Day Season!  You may know already, but my daughter's are Irish Dancers, and this week they will be performing with the rest of their Trinity Performance Troupe.  Whether we are at Assisted Living Facilities, Schools or Pubs the guests are always guaranteed to get a 

Superior St. Patrick's Day show. 

And who wouldn't smile at these girls!

Well, this is just the beginning of our Green Week.  I have promised you COOKIES!

I will tell you that I love to bake, and I feel I always need to have a perfect product in the end. So I searched and searched for the perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe and all fingers  pointed to The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle, not only does she create fabulous cookies, she is "Sweet" enough to share her Recipes!

I used this one:

1 c. (2 sticks) of REAL unsalted BUTTER, softened
1 1 /2 c. confectioner's sugar
1 egg
2-3 tsp flavoring (pick what you like, I used almond extract the first time and mixed almond and vanilla the next time I used this recipe)
2 1/2-2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Cream together softened butter and confectioner's sugar.  Crack the egg into a separate bowl, and add the flavoring.  (see Sugarbelle's site above for exact content including pictures).  Add that to the butter sugar mixture and mix until the egg is thoroughly mixed.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add little by little to the mixture.

I added green food coloring, but may opt against it next time.
When using green icing they look great no matter what color the dough is.

Roll out on parchment paper (This is the BEST TIP I have ever gotten in all the years I have baked) to about 1/4 inch thick, use flour for dusting as necessary.  Then cut and bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes.  This recipe will yield 2 - 2 1/2 dozen.  I have always doubled the recipe.

The above photos are of my 2nd attempt at these delicious bakery quality cookies.

This is what my kitchen counter looks like after I bake carefully!

I didn't take pictures of my first attempt over Valentines day, because it began with confectioner's sugar, all over my counter, floor and me!  Naughty words were said, a feeling of defeat was had, and then my hubby made me laugh.  I then felt that it is important to accept my failures, take pictures and learn from my experiences, because that is what I am trying to share with my blog.

I tried to save as much of the sugar as possible and estimated what I had lost.  Guess what?  The recipe still turned out great! I believe this IS a NO FAIL recipe!

Time to enjoy the cookies!  Yep, that milk has been touched by a Leprechaun!

Thank you to some great bakers out there that are Sweet enough to share their perfection with others!  Hugs go out to The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle for making me a Supermom? That's Me! Baker!