Food Adventures 101: Bring Spring Cookies to Work or Home

Cookies can be crisp or soft. They can have icing or not, and can contain countless ingredients.

I personally prefer the thick soft cookie with a hefty layer of icing, sort of a "cake pretending to be a cookie" deal.

I'm not too far off my description: cookies used to serve as test batches for cakes. According to an article on what'scookingamerica.net, a small amount of batter would be baked to determine proper oven temperature.

Cookies are delicious year-round, and the spring season is no different. In bakeries everywhere you will find brightly decorated, happy smiling cookies just waiting for you to take home.

They also help stave off spring fever. If you have to work inside eight hours out of the day, bring some spring-themed cookies to the job (either home-baked or store-bought). I promise it will put everyone in a better mood.

Heaven Scent Bakery is my top choice this week for cookies on the run. The O'Fallon bakery is a hop skip and a jump from Lake Saint Louis and features top-notch, hand-crafted cookies for sale.

If you're willing to drive to St. Peters, Great American Cookie has a wide selection of treats, including the Double Doozie, with a layer of icing in between two cookies. Though not necessarily spring-theme, they are still tasty.

Wentzville has the tried and true Mrs. Fields Cookies, while Lake Saint Louis has perfectly acceptable cookies at ., but Heaven Scent still ranks #1.

If you've already decided to bake a batch at home to bring to work or treat the kids with, here is an easy sugar cookie recipe (on a stick no less, to make it kid-friendly!) from myrecipe.com. Feel free to mix it up with your own frosting ideas, decorations and designs.

Cookies on a Stick

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Wooden craft sticks or lollipop sticks
• Easy Microwave Frosting
• Decorations: colored sugar, pastel nonpareils, pastel confetti, pastel eggs, pastel jimmies

Preparation

• Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer about 5 minutes or until creamy. Add egg yolks and vanilla, beating until blended. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended after each addition. Cover and freeze 30 minutes.
• Roll dough to a 3/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut desired shapes using favorite seasonal cutters; place on lightly greased baking sheets, allowing space for craft sticks. Insert 1 craft stick into bottom of each cookie.
• Bake at 350° for 10 to 16 minutes or until edges are golden. (Baking times may vary with different cookie shapes and sizes.) Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Slip a metal spatula under cookies to loosen; cool completely on baking sheets.
• Spread a generous amount of Easy Microwave Frosting where each stick and cookie are joined to ensure stability. Let dry about 30 minutes. Spread a thin layer of Easy Microwave Frosting on front side of each cookie, and sprinkle with desired decorations before frosting dries; then dry completely. Store in a cool, dry place.
• Chocolate Cookies on a Stick: Reduce all-purpose flour to 1 3/4 cups, and add 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• Note: Do not substitute refrigerated cookie dough for this recipe. It contains leavening and tends to spread as it bakes, distorting cookie shapes.

Note: Yields will vary depending on the sizes and shapes of your cookie cutters.

(Southern Living, March 2005)