Little Chick Sugar Cookies

I love Betty Crocker. That may be frowned upon in the culinary or baker's world, but I don't care. Betty Crocker's website has introduced me to countless adorable treats and tasty recipes, without which I may not have ever discovered my true love for cooking and baking. I look to her website whenever a holiday is coming up, for inspiration in creating adorable treats to take to my co-workers. This Easter was no exception. Look at these Little Peepers. Adorable. How could I resist giving it a try?

And while I did adopt the decorations for this cookie treat, I used a homemade recipe for the cookies and the icing, instead of the pre-packaged sugar cookie mix. Betty won on this cuteness competition. The cookie and the icing taste delicious, but my decorating was less than  perfect. I guess it's always a gamble when you use the spoon-drop method versus cookie cut-outs for sugar cookies. Most of mine came out looking like eggs, instead of pretty round circles. So, I made a few of the chicks, a few decorated eggs, and the rest are just little sugar cookies with yummy icing. Lucky for me, my co-workers love any goodies I bring them, and they don't care if, or how, ugly they are!!



And here's my little chick-a-dee!



Sweet Beginning's Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Beat together butter and sugar on low speed until fluffy. Stir in flavorings and egg, mix well.
3. Stir in flour and baking soda.
4. Drop heaping tablespoon's onto foil-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 9-11 minutes until just set. Remove to cooling rack, and cool completely before decorating.

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temp
1 lb confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy.
2. Reduce speed to medium. Add confectioners sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add vanilla (and food coloring, if using any) and beat until frosting is smooth.
4. Generously frost cookies, and decorate!