So I'm Still Around (and I made sugar cookies)

Sorry, I disappeared for a couple of weeks.  We've started homeschooling the oldest and we're starting a business at the same time, so life has gotten a bit crazy.  Like really crazy.  Something had to give and since the blog is not the business and takes quite a bit of time it gave first. 

I won't be posting quite as regularly in the future.  I do hope I can still get in a couple of posts a week, like Monday and Fridays, but I can't guarantee anything.  Please do follow me (button to the right) or put me in your reader or just check back once a week.   I have some fun projects I'm working on and hope to get them up soon.  Like a kite.  yeah.  You may be as tired of green St. Patrick's Day crafts as I am.  March means kites around here.  And I'm making one.  It's been a fun project so far. 

But this weekend's project was piggie cookies:

as you can see, I'm not the greatest cookie decorator in the world.  We did have fun with them.  My youngest decided we needed a piggie party to celebrate our new piggie banks that are actually shaped like pigs.   We made cookies together for our "party."   I used 4 inch rounds for the heads and 2 inch rounds for the noses. The eyes are upside down chocolate chips, the ears are watermelon flavored Starbursts rolled out and cut, and the nose is tropical punch Starbursts shaped into long pointy ovals.   They are frosted with cream cheese frosting so they taste quite a bit better than they look.  

Here's my very, very favorite sugar cookie recipe.  It's tangy, buttery, and it stays soft and chewy.  Perfection.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 c sugar
1 c butter
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 c flour

Combine everything but the flour until well mixed.   Add the flour and mix until just combined.  Divide into thirds and shape into discs.   Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours.   Let rest for 5-10 minutes before rolling out.   Roll out into 1/4 inch thickness, cut, and place on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10  minutes or until the edges are just light brown.

Remember to bake same sized cookies together, so if you are doing some large and some small cookies you will want to bake them on separate pans.   Small cookies need less time than big ones and keeping them separate means you don't have to compromise on whether to over bake the little ones or under bake the big ones. 

By the way, Happy Pi Day!   If you are looking for a pie recipe to make for your family today you can always try my favorite apple pie.