Sugar Cookies for Mother's Day..

Phew....What a relief... Defence Exhibition is over.!

(will download photos soon..)

Now...back to work.... and baking...

Over the weekend, I did some experimenting decorating sugar cookies with royal icing. They were baked on Saturday, iced the next day.

I think Mom will like this, don't you?

All that aside, its more the concept of the cookie that I'm after in this post - not the shape. Sugar cookies are actually a fantastic way to get the whole family involved in baking (maybe not your husband - mine iced one, then went back to his drawings in the house....somewhere... so I guess it kind counts as decorating...his way..!)

But if you have kids, they will get a kick out of getting creative with the icing.

My daughter, hmm...she didn't really help either, but she was a very important part of my kitchen test.... several cookies had to be consumed (both with and without icing for comparison purposes) in order to get the official thumbs up..!

The great part about sugar cookies is that the ingredients are most likely already in your house. I don't consider myself a real baker (doing this just for 'suka-suka' only...:D). I also like that the cookies can be cut into whatever shapes suits the occasion - or your mood really. Go ahead and get creative. If you can't find cookie cutters, you can always pring a shape onto paper, cut it out, then use it on the dough and trace the shape out with a knife... (requires a tad more patience then I have, but certainly do-able..).

As far as icing goes, this is a variation of clasic royal icing. By reducing the amount of icing sugar, the icing becomes thinner and more asily spreadable. Also, if the cookies are iced with two colours at the same time (rather than waiting for one colour to dry), the new colour will sort of seep into the base colour giving the cookie a smooth finish. The icing will still dry to a hard finish, but it wont be the consistency of cement, and it will make your cookies look quite elegant.

Don't forget to get creative!

Its a fun way to celebrate everyday accomplishments....slip a heart cookie into your kids lunch box..! Not to mention there is something to be said for easy, inexpensive ways to get your kids into the kitchen and interested in cooking and they'll be so proud of their efforts....

I urge you to hide a few right away so you can indulge with an afternoon tea..!