The Cookie Project!

So the last couple of weeks I've pretty much spent most of my time producing 250 sugar cookies to serve for dessert at the dinner for our Stake RS Women's Conference.

First...make 250 cookies! I used my favorite recipe (I think it was in a cook book I got as a wedding shower gift from Barbara Terrill...Betty Crocker's Cooking for Two):

Make this recipe 10 times (two at a time...don't try to make a bigger batch because the recipe doesn't work as well)

1 1/2 C sifted powdered sugar

1 C butter

1 egg

1 t vanilla

1/2 t almond flavoring

2 1/2 C flour

1 t baking soda

1 t cream of tartar

This makes a REALLY soft dough...but don't add more flour or the cookies aren't as tender. Roll 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters...I used the 4" flower from the Wilton set below: bake at 350 only 7-9 minutes.

So I made all of these a couple of weeks ago and put them in the freezer.

Then a few days before our dinner I started pulling them out of the freezer and glazing them with Petit Four frosting:

9 C sifted powdered sugar

1/2 C light Karo syrup

1/2 C warm water

1 t almond flavoring

Mix OVER hot water (use a double boiler or set up a pan inside a pan as I did). Put each cookie on the wire rack and quickly pour 1/3 C glaze over, coating the entire cookie...you will have to hold the rack and tip it a bit to coax the glaze over all the edges. If the glaze gets thick as you are working, add a little more water.

Immediately, while glaze is still moist, sprinkle with white sanding sugar or sparkling sugar...if you forget the sugar (as I did at first) you can spray a TINY bit with warm water to moisten the glaze and then sprinkle on the sugar.

Then using a fork, carefully lift the cookie off the wire rack (and wipe off any drippy edges) and place on foil to completely dry.

I let them sit out several hours until thoroughly hardened, then stacked four deep in gift boxes(that I got at the Container Store) with foil between the layers. At this point I put them back in the freezer...

After three days (a couple hours at a time), I had them all glazed, added Royal Frosting blue flowers (to look like Forget-Me-Nots) with yellow centers...I used "Delphinium Blue" to match our table squares perfectly...

On Thursday (the day of our dinner) I made two trips to the Stake Center to transport them as I couldn't put them all in one layer in the back of my car...I didn't want to risk stacking the trays/boxes...

Here they are...serving as both dessert and table decoration...a lot of work, but they worked out well for our dinner!