Looking for an opportunity to spread some love to those in your circle? No better time than Valentine’s Day to let people know you care about them. When my children were small, I made cut-out frosted sugar cookies for nearly every holiday. I have cookie cutters in all shapes – hearts, snowmen, trees, stars, pumpkins, and more. My favorite frosting is straight out of the red 3-ring Betty Crocker cookbook, the cookbook I grew up using when teaching myself how to cook. Most every day after school I would peruse the pages trying to find something new and different to make, but of course always had the favorites. I was asked recently whether I use a royal icing or a buttercream and honestly, this buttercream has never failed me. Not only do I love the flavor, but it hardens perfectly remaining soft, but not messy when decorating a plate of cookies.
from my recent holiday baking back in December…
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1-2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.
- Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.
- Frosts 13×9-inch cake generously, fills and frosts an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake, or frosts one batch of homemade sugar cookies.
As I dig through the pantry and consider this year’s Valentine options, I see bag after bag of open chocolate chips. I have semi sweet, milk and white chocolate chips, plus full bags of my absolute favorite, Guillard (mega) milk chocolate chips. I have nearly 60 students between 3 classes (sorry to my 25 additional online students) and that’s more than a single batch of cookies, especially if anyone needs more than one cookie. Therefore, we’re mixing things up a bit!
I made one batch of triple chocolate cookies by measuring all my “leftover chocolate chips” on my digital food scale. I came up with at least 11 oz. of white, milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips which I deemed to be as close to one single bag of chips as possible. I don’t have a secret ingredient when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, just what I would deem to be the most frequently used recipe out there. I do have one rule that I have perfected in the last year – one must use Irish butter! It is truly the most creamy and delectable butter on the market. The second batch, shown below, are made with the Guillard milk chocolate chips.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened preferably Irish butter
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1-2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 bag (12 oz) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Mix together butter, eggs, sugars & vanilla.
- Add salt, baking soda and flour. Mix well before folding in the chocolate chips.
- Using a cookie scoop, drop evenly measured, rounded scoops onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown edges. Remove from pan to a baking rack to cool.
- Cookies freeze well and will help you avoid eating the whole batch in one setting!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
May your Valentine’s Day be filled with love and kindness in every direction. You don’t need a “sweetheart” to take advantage of the opportunity to extend a helping hand, leave an imprint of kindness and encouragement, or to extend a compliment. I like to bake, so if you’re in my circle, chances are you’ll find a sweet treat.
Blessings,
Tina
Copyright © 2019 Montana Mountain Maven / Tina R. Cusker. All rights reserved.
