Sugar Cookie Bars

I don’t know where or when these cookie bars originated. I do know that I started seeing them everywhere over the last year. There are sugar cookies bars on My Baking Addiction, The Repressed Pastry Chef, Completely Delicious, and Love and Olive Oil and many more. The earliest post I’ve found is from Taste Buds. If you know the origin of them, let me know. I have a thing for sugar cookies. They are the best cookie ever, but they are also labor-intensive. The allure of the sugar cookie bar is that the dough is baked in one sheet, it’s frosted all at once, and then the sheet is cut into pieces. This is a very streamlined process for a sugar cookie. When I reached my breaking point and mentioned that I simply had to try baking these myself, my sister demanded that I do so right away and bring them with me when I visited last weekend. My arm was twisted, I pulled the butter from the refrigerator, and got to work.

The recipe for these is always the same. A cup of room temperature butter is creamed with two cups of granulated sugar. Four eggs are added, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Two teaspoons of vanilla are added. Meanwhile, five cups of all-purpose flour are sifted with one teaspoon of salt and one half teaspoon of baking soda. The dry ingredients are slowly added to the butter mixture and are mixed until just combined. The oven should be pre-heated to 375 degrees F. The dough is spread onto a thirteen inch by eighteen inch sheet pan and patted out to the edges evenly. It’s baked for twenty to twenty-five minutes and then allowed to cool. For the frosting, some recipes suggest a mix of butter and shortening, but I used all butter. So, one cup of room temperature butter was mixed with one teaspoon of vanilla and a pinch of salt. Four cups of confectioners’ sugar are added slowly and mixed until combined. For liquid, you can add five tablespoons of milk, but I used a couple of tablespoons of milk and couple of pomegranate juice. I was hoping for a pale pink hue, but it really didn’t color the frosting much at all. After applying the frosting, I do think sprinkles are absolutely necessary here. Then, cut and serve.

In my case, I cut, packed the bars into an airtight container, shoved that into my carry-on bag, and hoped the bars wouldn’t end up too smooshed after being transported. The frosting did get a little flattened by the time I reached my destination, but they weren't ruined. The texture of the cookies was just right. They weren’t too firm or too crumbly, and the frosting kept them from becoming dry. I still have my favorite sugar cookie of all time that can never be replaced, but these are very, very good cookie bars. I know I’ll be baking these again and again. And, who can resist sprinkles?

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Hawaiian Snowballs

Snowballs, meltaways, and wedding cookies are very similar in style and deliciousness. My grandma used to make a pecan snowball kind of cookie which I loved, but then I discovered the Hawaiian snowball and that changed everything. Last weekend was our Austin food bloggers’ cookie swap, and there were more varieties of cookies than should be legal in one house. We each brought six dozen cookies and then chose from the whole collection which ones we wanted to take home. Deciding what kind of cookie to take to the event was difficult. I had to try a couple of new recipes and one old favorite and ended up making three kinds of cookies for the swap. I’ll show the other two soon, but these Hawaiian snowballs were my first choice. The idea came from the December 2003 issue of Living magazine, and I’ve made them several times since that issue appeared. For the sugar cookie dough itself, I used my favorite recipe of all time which happens to make the best sugar cookies ever.

That best ever sugar cookie dough, Ethel’s sugar cookies from the 1960 Betty Crocker cookbook, was mixed and then left to chill in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, I let the dough come to room temperature and turned it out onto a floured surface. The dough should be flattened somewhat into an oblong shape. Chopped macadamia nuts and chopped, dried pineapple were layered on top of the dough, and then the dough was folded and kneaded until the nuts and fruit were incorporated. Then, you just pull off pieces of dough, roll them into one inch balls, and place them on lined baking sheets. I baked them for about 13 minutes at 400 degrees F, but they should be checked after 10 minutes and then watched. After they cooled, they were dusted with confectioner’s sugar, and I put the sugar in a sieve and shake it over the cookies so no lumps land on the cookies.

The result is a tender, little cookie with a snowy top. The roasted, salted macadamias are a nice contrast to the chewy, sweet pineapple, and I already explained that this sugar cookie dough is the best there is. It really is. And, what can I say, I like Bing Crosby’s “Mele Kalikimaka,” and these cookies go perfectly with that song.

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Ethel’s Sugar Cookies

These are not just any sugar cookies. No, sir, these are the sugar cookies. These have been my sugar cookies since my Mom first showed me how dough is rolled and cookies are cut. I have to tell you all about them as soon as I explain the reason I baked them this time. Yesterday, there was a potluck picnic for Austin food bloggers, and this was the first such potluck I had attended. When faced with deciding what to bring to a picnic for a group of food bloggers, I wanted to be sure it was something tried and true. Ethel’s sugar cookies fit that description more so than anything else I’ve ever made. And, since these were for Austin food bloggers, it gave me a great excuse to use my Texas-shaped cutter.

The picnic was hosted by David Ansel of The Soup Peddler, and the food was incredible. We’re still talking about that smoked, stuffed chicken, and we’re sure it was the best chicken we’ve ever had. And, those pea shoot and strawberry sandwiches were a fresh and delicious flavor combination. Kurt loved the fried pork ribs, and I couldn’t stop eating the spicy potato salad. Then, there was dessert. We filled dessert plates three times and were still looking longingly at things we hadn’t tried. Next time, we’ll need to prepare for a day like this. Maybe a few days of fasting prior to future potlucks will help.

So, I brought along a box of these sugar cookies and a strawberry raspberry tart. The cookies are from my Mom’s 1960 version of the Betty Crocker Cookbook which she received as a wedding gift. In the book, they are called Ethel’s sugar cookies, and we have no idea who Ethel was. She made a fine sugar cookie though. Mom and I used to make these for Christmas or Easter, and I think we even made them for Thanksgiving one year. Mom used to show me how thick to roll out the dough and how to tap the cookie out of the cutter if it got suck. She has a thing about sugar cookies being baked until just done. If they brown on the bottoms or on any corners at all, they won’t make the cut. I still watch the oven and timer like a hawk and stand ready to pull the sheet out at just the right moment. It takes a little patience to mix the dough, let it chill overnight, roll it out, cut out cookies, bake them, let them cool, and then decorate them. But, these cookies always make me happy. I just checked my Betty Crocker 40th Anniversary Cookbook, and the sugar cookie recipe in that version of the book is completely different, and I’m sure it’s no good at all. Ethel’s recipe is the best, and this is it:

2 1/2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
3/4 c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla

-sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium mixing bowl
-cream together butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy
-add dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until combined
-wrap dough in plastic or place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight
-pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
-roll out dough to 1/8" thickness and cut cookies
-bake for 6 minutes for medium-sized cookies

Note: I always double this recipe and make a lot of cookies at once. A doubled recipe yielded about five dozen three and a half inch wide Texas cookies.

UPDATE:

I was asked about the royal icing used on the cookies, and I always follow a recipe found in The Martha Stewart Cookbook.

1 c confectioners' sugar
1 egg white (I use meringue powder when serving the cookies to a crowd.)
3 or 4 drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

-mix all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. add more sugar if the consistency is not thick enough to hold its shape on a cookie.

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