Happy 1st Birthday Myles!

Shiver me... whiskers?

This past week I had the privilege of baking cookies and cupcakes for a very special bunch... of cats. I donated cookies and cupcakes to a fundraiser to benefit Happy Endings No Kill Cat Shelter. This fundraising event was a private screening of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I was asked to create pirate-themed sweets for a Bake Sale being held in conjunction with the movie. This is the largest cookie order I have done in quite some time and I was thrilled to be able to create these for such a wonderful cause.

New laptop up and running, and I'm back! I attempted a few times this past year to update this blog from my iPhone but I gave up every attempt out of frustration.

I have not decorated anywhere near the amount of cookies I had been used to since I last posted. It's been pretty busy here. but although my piping bags have taken a backseat, my oven has not. And now I'd like to introduce the primary cause of my blog hiatus, Myles.







Myles was born in June 2010 and just turned 9 months old. He is quickly becoming my second set of hands in the kitchen. I've got a few quick pictures from this past year or so to share for now...

Now, my next project is to get into my old flickr account and link some more pictures =]

Happy Spring!

Sorry it has been SO long since I've been able to update... It's been a very busy summer and, sadly, I haven't been able to make a lot of cookies.

Last week I got a request from a friend who is a tattoo artist. I thought cookies as tattoo designs would be a ton of fun to make so I accepted the challenge. I used a newer recipe for these, which is quickly becoming the favorite around here =]

Cream Cheese Cut-Outs from karenscookies.net

1 cup butter
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add sugar; beat until fluffy.

Add egg, vanilla and almond extract; beat well.

In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder.

Add dry ingredients to cream cheese mixture; beat until well mixed.

Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours.

Preheat oven to 375°. Roll dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes and place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. (very large cookies may take longer to bake)

The first time I used this recipe I made Lemon-Drop Martinis, so I substituted lemon extract for the almond the recipe calls for. They were such a hit that lemon is the standard flavor I use for this recipe.

Both batches of cookies were decorated with Royal Icing.

Style Cookies, Version 2

Punk-Rock Chic? For another Special Birthday this month... It's been Busy! Lots of skulls, some Chuck Taylor's (all the best colors!), Emily the Strange, a few neon electric guitars, and some rocker Tees! Yummy Thick Cut Outs with Royal Icing.

Style Cookies, Version 1

Special Birthday cookies for a wonderful friend! Thick Cut Outs with Royal Icing. These were a blast to make! I don't know what came over me... the ideas were just pouring out! The Zebra Print is my favorite, of course... Can't wait to use that again!

And what 21st Birthday would be complete without a few martinis?... & some hot pink nail polish.... :-)

Hello Kitty Chocolate Cookies

Found this recipe on cakecentral.com for Dark Chocolate Rolled Cookies.... It is definitely as good as the reviews made it out to be! They're a little bit crisp on the outside, but have a soft, chewy middle.... kind of like a brownie! The combination of Dark Chocolate cocoa powder and espresso makes for a deep chocolate taste, unlike any other chocolate cookie I've tried yet!

Had to use the Hello Kitty cookie cutter for these because I just finally got it! Found it on Ebay last month.... International shipping is SO expensive, and takes SO long! But it was worth the wait! The icing that I used on these is one I've posted before.... Kind of like buttercream, but for cookies. Since it's thick, and doesn't flow very well, I had to inprint the face onto the white icing before I added the face & bow. When I make these again, with Royal Icing, they'll look much smoother.... But Royal Icing, though beautiful to look at and work with, would not have done these yummy chocolate cookies any justice!

Dark Chocolate Rolled Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of butter softened

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup of sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

Cream butter, shortening & sugar until fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla and espresso powder, until blended.

Combine dry ingredients. Take the flour mixture and add it in with the butter mixture on low until combined.

Take out of the mixer and pat into a few disks, wrap in plastic and chill for a few hours.

Bake at 350 14-16 minutes.