Baking Ban Broken Again!

I say the ban was broken, but actually I did lay the rules out very clearly...I cannot possibly show up to a BIRTHDAY party with no baked goods! A) my friends have come to expect something homemade and calorific and B) my mother taught me never to show up at a party empty-handed. 

Earlier this week I posted a couple of pictures of the French-style Bath Mitt I knitted for my UK bestfriend Clare's birthday and Moogie over at Moggie & Pap suggested that I bake some brownies to complete the pampering gift.  I toyed with the idea for a bit and ho-ed and hum-ed over recipes...and then I had a total brain wave! GUINEA PIG TIME! I have been waiting for an occasion to try out Martha Stewart's Sugar Cookie Recipe in preparation for my mother's arrival and our team baking cookies for the wedding loot bags.

DING DING DING!! Clare's birthday is the perfect time to hold an undercover taste test and recipe trial!!!
The recipe from Martha's website makes approx. 3 dozen cookies! HOLY COOKIES BATMAN! way way way too many for this bride-to-be (4 weeks...this is LITERALLY crunch time) so I looked through the recipe and it appeared to be easily halved. 

These cookies are pretty labour intensive...or at least time intensive...First you have to pray that the butter you left out on the counter over night actually softened (it didn't)...then you have to come up with a cleaver way of softening the butter sans microwave (don't put it too close to the element on the stove though, cause the foil paper can actually singe...) THEN, once the butter is actually soft you can get on with the making of the dough, which must rest a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge (A PRO HERE IS THAT IT WILL KEEP IN THE FRIDGE FOR A WEEK!) Once the dough has rested you roll out the dough and cut out your shapes and then the shapes must chill again for 15 mins!! Then you bake them....then they have to cool on the bakingsheet before they can be transfered to the wire rack....PHEW!

The verdict?? You have to watch these cookies like a pro...left to their own devices they will brown very quickly and then....once cooled....they are REALLY hard.  However, the ones that I nursed through the baking process turned out quite well.  David and I "taste tested" quite a few of the overly brown cookies, and shared ONE of the good ones...which was soft and crispy at the same time...a good start I think!

Later on, infront of the TV I iced the cookies...I am not very good at decorating (Clare, whose birthday it is, is really good) but I am getting more confident. Actually...that's not true, I am happy having a go at cakes, but cookies are HARD! If they are not perfectly level, or if the table is slightly wonky, the icing is bound to drip and drool, and well...that annoys me.  Anyway, I iced the blue ones first, and then thought I would be smart and add a little red dye to make purple....but ended up with the burgundy colour instead.  At first I was really disappointed, but then I realised....HEY! It is the same colour as our wedding invites! Perfect for our loot bag cookies!

The true test is tonight at Clare's birthday dinner...I'll let you know!