I heart V-day (cookies)!

Seriously, how cool is it that we have a holiday to celebrate LOVE! I love everything about it; the hot date with my hubby, the pinks, the reds, the flowers, the valentines and let us not forget the chocolates and the treats.This is just a fun idea I got from Our Best Bites. I am kind of a snob with my own sugar cookie recipe, so used their idea, but my recipe I got a long time ago from my friend Heidi. Here it is:

Sugar Cookies
1 1/2 Cups Butter, 3 cubes
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
2 t. Vanilla
5 Cups Flour
2 t. Baking Powder
2 t. Salt

Place butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla all together in a bowl and mix it up. Then add the other ingredients. Mix it all up. Roll up the dough into one big ball. Cover the ball of dough in saran wrap and place in the fridge. Let the dough chill for an hour before making into cookies. roll the dough out flat with flour. Cut the dough out with cookie cutters. place on a cookie sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. (Make tons, but the dough freezes great!)

Vanilla Frosting
5 1/2 T. Butter
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
2-10 T. Milk (I really don’t measure this, I just put it in till it looks good)
1 t. Vanilla
1/2 t. Almond Extract

Soften the butter first. Add all the other ingredients and beat up. You may add food coloring to it if you'd like.


This is no secret recipe (well, anymore) but I promise, cross my heart that this really is, "the best chocolate chip cookie recipe". I have had some good cookies in my day, but none, I repeat NONE do it for me the way these do. This batch makes about a million too. So I usually make the half batch (the 2nd measurement is the half recipe, I thought I'd spare you the math). I still end up freezing dough from the halved recipe. But I love it because I just freeze it into little balls and when I am ready to bake them I just throw them on a cookie sheet and bake. In the picture above I dipped them in white chocolate and put some Valentine sprinkles on it.

COOKIES NIEMAN-MARCUS COOKIES

2 c. butter -1 cup
2 c. sugar -1 cup
2 c. brown sugar -1 cup
4 eggs – 2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla -1 tsp
4 c. flour -2 cups
5 c. oatmeal, blended in blender to a fine powder -2 ½
1 tsp. salt -1/2 tsp
2 tsp. baking powder -1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp. soda -1 tsp soda
24 oz. chocolate chips -12 oz
1 (8 oz.) bar Hershey, grated -½ bar

Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Stir in chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Makes 9 dozen cookies.