Sugar Cookie Cutout

Do you love sugar cookies?  Perfecting the best recipe might be a challenge for you.  Here is a great sugar cookie cut out recipe that will produce beautiful and tasty sugar cookies.  You can learn more at The Kitchn.


Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending on size

1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer), cream the butter and cream cheese with the sugar. Beat for several minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts, and lemon zest.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl then gradually add to the butter and sugar mixture until fully incorporated and a soft dough is formed.

At this point the dough can, and should be, chilled or frozen. If making cookies in the near future, divide the dough into 2 balls and roll each out to 1/4 to 1/8-inch thickness between large pieces of parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Or freeze the dough balls, wrapped in plastic wrap and a freezer bag, for up to 1 month. To thaw, leave in the refrigerator overnight then proceed with the recipe.

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment or a Silpat. Cut cookies out of the rolled dough and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack.

Cool completely before icing or decorating, and store in a tightly covered container.
Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (Large Batch) 8 to 12 dozen, depending on size

3 cups unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest
9 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer), cream the butter and cream cheese with the sugar. Beat for several minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts, and lemon zest.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl then gradually add to the butter and sugar mixture until fully incorporated and a soft dough is formed.

At this point the dough can, and should be, chilled or frozen. If making cookies in the near future, divide the dough into 2 balls and roll each out to 1/4 to 1/8-inch thickness between large pieces of parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Or freeze the dough balls, wrapped in plastic wrap and a freezer bag, for up to 1 month. To thaw, leave in the refrigerator overnight then proceed with the recipe.

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment or a Silpat. Cut cookies out of the rolled dough and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack.

Cool completely before icing or decorating, and store in a tightly covered container.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Have a safe and fun holiday!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday with friends and family!

Delicious Holiday Treat

Christmas Cookies and Pies are famous in many households.  However, having warm cinnamon rolls could also be a great Christmas treat.  Check out this great recipe below.  This recipe is delicious and super easy to make for a lot of people.  You can learn more at The Kitchn.


I come from a generously-sized family, the sort that prompted wide eyes and under-the-breath counting from strangers who glimpsed our brood at the library or grocery store. I'll spare you the counting and say that I have five brothers and two sisters, so eight of us, plus parents, and now assorted spouses and in-laws. Christmas is an all-day affair for us, with stockings and enough presents to necessitate an intermission about halfway through unwrapping. But as we've grown up and gotten married, things have shifted; last year we did Christmas in the evening, instead of in the morning, and every holiday now has a marked absence of a sibling (or two) celebrating with someone else's family.

But there is one inviolable tradition that still binds our Christmases together, and that is my mother's cinnamon rolls.
 

My mother's cinnamon rolls are warm and yeasty, prepared ahead of time but baked Christmas morning, enticing people out of bed (since we're now mostly too old to spring out of bed at 4:30am, or camp under the tree). My brothers anticipate them eagerly and devour them instantly.

On Christmas I leave the roll duties to my mother, since, you know, tradition. But I love her recipe and use it too, especially when we have overnight guests, since these rolls are so easy to make ahead and bake off in a few minutes. This recipe makes two dozen rolls, and I like to make a full batch but freeze half of them for impromptu brunches.

I do add my own twists; I like to go beyond cinnamon and add a few extra spices for aroma and taste. Star anise, cardamom, coriander — they add a little something special.

These cinnamon rolls are sweet, spicy, and decadent, and they can satisfy those who want a crunchy sugar glaze on the bottom and creamy icing on top. All it takes (all it ever takes, really) is a little extra butter and a little extra sugar. These are not a breakfast for those on a diet; these are not to be made every weekend. But when you're making cinnamon rolls, in my opinion it's best to go all out — they're a generous treat for family mornings, a tradition from my family to yours. Par-baked cinnamon rolls about to go back in the oven.

Spicy Sticky Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

Makes 24 rolls For the dough:
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1 1/4 cup milk, lightly warmed
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour

For the filling:
4 small cinnamon sticks
1 star anise pod
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds or powder
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft

For the icing:
4 ounces cream cheese, very soft
1/2 cup milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar, plus more as desired

To make the dough, sprinkle the yeast over the warmed milk in a large bowl and set aside for 5 minutes until slightly bubbly. With a whisk or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, beat in the sugar, softened butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the flour 1 cup at a time, until the dough is very thick.

Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and warm, or switch to the dough hook and knead in the stand mixer. Knead for about 5 minutes in the mixer, or 7 minutes by hand, until the dough is taut and smooth.

Wipe out the bowl and spray lightly with vegetable oil. Shape the dough into a ball and place in greased bowl, turning it to make sure it's coated in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled — about 2 hours.

For the filling, grind the spices in a spice grinder until fine and mix with the brown sugar. (If you want to skip the extra spices or use powdered cinnamon instead of whole, substitute 3 to 4 tablespoons cinnamon for all the spices.) Cream the butter with the spices and sugar in a mixer or with hand beaters.

Lightly grease two 9-inch cake pans. On a floured surface roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 14 inches by 24 inches. When the dough is rolled out, slather it thickly with the creamed butter and sugar, making sure to spread it nearly to the edges. Roll up along the long side, stretching and pulling the dough into a taut and tight roll. Use a bench scraper or knife to cut into 24 individual rolls.

Divide the rolls among the prepared pans and let rise in a warm place until the rolls double in size — about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes or until just beginning to brown.


Make-Ahead Instructions: To make the rolls ahead of time, follow the recipe up until baking. Par-bake the rolls for just 10 minutes. Remove the rolls and let them cool, then freeze them in their pans or in freezer bags. To finish baking, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw in the fridge overnight. Then bake in the morning at 350ºF for 10 to 15 minutes. Frost and serve warm.

For the icing, beat the cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and sugar together, adding more powdered sugar as necessary to get the consistency you prefer. Drizzle over hot rolls with a fork. Serve warm.
Christmas Cookies and Pies are famous in many households.  However, having warm cinnamon rolls could also be a great Christmas treat.  Check out this great recipe below.  This recipe is delicious and super easy to make for a lot of people.  You can learn more at The Kitchn.

How To Be the Perfect Houseguest?

The holidays are a time to spend with friends and family.  Make sure to look over these great tips on how to be a great houseguest for your friends and relatives.  We hope that everyone has safe travels this season!  You can learn more at the Metro.

Being a houseguest can involve more discomfort than than a fold-out couch and a lumpy pillow. Sharing space with friends and family is often a given during the holiday season, but it doesn’t have to be as awkward as a midnight trip to an unknown bathroom. As the CEO and founder of the design and lifestyle blog Apartment Therapy, Maxwell Ryan knows his way around a cramped apartment, which is why we asked him for his best advice on how to survive a stay at with in-laws.

A smooth arrival

The first step of any stay as a guest is the planes, trains and automobiles that get you there. Ryan says these transitional moments can be loaded with tension for hosts, and it’s on guests to be clear and consistent about their arrival times. “If you’re supposed to be arriving at 6 p.m. on a Friday and you don’t get there until 7 and there are multiple text messages about where you are and being on your way, it’s exhausting,” he says. “What’s really helpful to a host is if you arrive and depart on time” — meaning that guests should figure out how to get to where they’re going.
Arriving with a gift in hand is another thing Ryan recommends: “I think it’s better to show up with a gift than to leave a gift. A gift given at the beginning ‘covers’ your stay, if you will. There’s no reciprocity if you give first.” Sure, leaving a bottle of wine isn’t an insult, but arriving with a token of appreciation shows a host that you thought of them beforehand (though Ryan agrees with your mom — don’t skip the thank you note.)

During your stay

Routines and schedules can seem like no big deal until you’re hopping and dodging them like a game of double dutch. Ryan says the simplest way to ease scheduling mayhem as a houseguest is to respect and adapt to the routines of the hosts, which can mean asking for specifics and communicating clearly about schedules. “What’s interesting perhaps is that the point of it is to be a great guest, because you might not have a great host,” he says. “There are going to be some geat people out there in the world who are not the best hosts.”
Towels on the floor might work in your apartment, but they’ll render you persona non grata in another person’s home. Ryan’s advice is simple: “Leave the house cleaner than you found it. Put away all the dishes, wipe down the counters, clean the floors.” While you’re at it, get in on some sous chef duties — or whip up your own contribution to any shared meals. It doesn’t hurt, Ryan says, to offer to chip in for groceries or pick up a nice dessert or bottle of wine to go with a meal.

Go away

Giving your host some time off can be key to making a stay comfortable for all parties involved, Ryan says. “No matter what your situation is, plan to have some time away from your hosts, and let them know that they don’t have to take care of you the whole time,” he suggests. “Being independent is a really nice strong signal to send to your hosts.”

Quick tips to houseguest heaven

• Be observant of how your host’s household runs. If you’re observant, you won’t have to ask too many questions.
• Keep the bathroom clean and dry. “In our own homes we don’t mind if the water sputters so much, but when you’re a guest it means you probably are using the bathroom more than it would be used, so give everything a little wipe down when you’re done.”
• Offer to chip in for groceries. “[The offer] doesn’t have to be accepted to be effective — some hosts like to do everything themselves and that’s OK, but at least you can say you offered.”
• Always make a good effort to figure something out before asking your host — be a quick study.

- See more at: http://www.metro.us/newyork/lifestyle/home/2013/12/02/houseguest-101-apartment-therapys-tips-for-how-to-ace-a-visit/#sthash.oOYskD7E.dpuf

Being a houseguest can involve more discomfort than than a fold-out couch and  a lumpy pillow. Sharing space with friends and family is often a given during the holiday season, but it doesn’t have to be as awkward as a midnight trip to an unknown bathroom. As the CEO and founder of the design and lifestyle blog Apartment Therapy, Maxwell Ryan knows his way around a cramped apartment, which is why we asked him for his best advice on how to survive a stay at with in-laws.

A smooth arrival

The first step of any stay as a guest is the planes, trains and automobiles that get you there. Ryan says these transitional moments can be loaded with tension for hosts, and it’s on guests to be clear and consistent about their arrival times. “If you’re supposed to be arriving at 6 p.m. on a Friday and you don’t get there until 7 and there are multiple text messages about where you are and being on your way, it’s exhausting,” he says. “What’s really helpful to a host is if you arrive and depart on time” — meaning that guests should figure out how to get to where they’re going.

Arriving with a gift in hand is another thing Ryan recommends: “I think it’s better to show up with a gift than to leave a gift. A gift given at the beginning ‘covers’ your stay, if you will. There’s no reciprocity if you give first.” Sure, leaving a bottle of wine isn’t an insult, but arriving with a token of appreciation shows a host that you thought of them beforehand (though Ryan agrees with your mom — don’t skip the thank you note.)

During your stay

Routines and schedules can seem like no big deal until you’re hopping and dodging them like a game of double dutch. Ryan says the simplest way to ease scheduling mayhem as a houseguest is to respect and adapt to the routines of the hosts, which can mean asking for specifics and communicating clearly about schedules. “What’s interesting perhaps is that the point of it is to be a great guest, because you might not have a great host,” he says. “There are going to be some geat people out there in the world who are not the best hosts.”

Towels on the floor might work in your apartment, but they’ll render you persona non grata in another person’s home. Ryan’s advice is simple: “Leave the house cleaner than you found it. Put away all the dishes, wipe down the counters, clean the floors.” While you’re at it, get in on some sous chef duties — or whip up your own contribution to any shared meals. It doesn’t hurt, Ryan says, to offer to chip in for groceries or pick up a nice dessert or bottle of wine to go with a meal.

Go away

Giving your host some time off can be key to making a stay comfortable for all parties involved, Ryan says. “No matter what your situation is, plan to have some time away from your hosts, and let them know that they don’t have to take care of you the whole time,” he suggests. “Being independent is a really nice strong signal to send to your hosts.”

Quick tips to houseguest heaven

Be observant of how your host’s household runs. If you’re observant, you won’t have to ask too many questions.
 
Keep the bathroom clean and dry. “In our own homes we don’t mind if the water sputters so much, but when you’re a guest it means you probably are using the bathroom more than it would be used, so give everything a little wipe down when you’re done.”
 
Offer to chip in for groceries. “[The offer] doesn’t have to be accepted to be effective — some hosts like to do everything themselves and that’s OK, but at least you can say you offered.”
 
Always make a good effort to figure something out before asking your host — be a quick study.