Sugar cookies!

I thought it would be fun to make sugar cookies for Valentine's Day, especially for my husband, Jim, who loves anything sweet! I have a great sugar cookie recipe that is super quick and easy; after you make sugar cookies from scratch you'll never want to buy store bought cookie dough again! I particularly like this recipe because the cookies taste a little like short bread cookies. The recipe is from the Sur La Table cookbook: The Art & Soul of Baking...

Recipe makes 40-50 cookies

• 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on low speed for 15 seconds, to blend the ingredients. Add the butter and mix on low until the butter is broken into tiny pieces, 2-3 minutes. Turn the mixer to medium-low and mix until the mixture forms small clumps about the size of peas, 2-3 minutes longer.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the butter mixture and blend on medium-low until the dough comes together to form several large clumps. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead several times, just to bring it together. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disk about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until cold but still pliable.

Roll each disk of dough between parchment or waxed paper or on a floured work surface. This dough rolls most easily when it is at cool room temperature. Note: if the dough becomes too warm while rolling it out, you can place it back in the refrigerator to chill a little longer. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into desired shapes and transfer to baking sheets. Note: It's best to bake one cookie sheet at a time. While I'm waiting for one batch to bake, I'll chill the other sheet of cut shapes until I'm ready to bake the next batch.

Preheat the oven to 375. Sprinkle the cookies on each baking sheet with some of the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar just before they go into the oven. Bake for 10-13 minutes, until light golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool completely before icing and/or decorating.

I like to make homemade frosting for my cookies. A great and easy recipe is on the back of the Pure Cane Sugar Confectioners Powdered Sugar box, found at any major grocery store chain. I added food coloring to some of the frosting to create red and pink frosted heart cookies.

5 minute Buttercream frosting recipe...

• 1 lb. box of C&H Pure Cane Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 stick salted butter (softened)

Beat ingredients with electric mixer 2 minutes, scraping bowl often. For thinner consistency add milk a little at a time.

Enjoy! Your friends and family will LOVE these yummy treats!