Thursday, October 22, 2009

It's the Great Pumpkin (Cookie), Charlie Brown!

What's cookin' today? Find out by checking out Rhoda's recipe party over at Southern Hospitality.

Today I thought I'd share a recipe for iced sugar cookies that can be used throughout the holidays. I took some time last Friday afternoon to bake some with my girls.

{Rolled Sugar Cookies}
from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter, softened
2 c. white sugar
4 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
5 c. all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill for at least one hour. It should look like this when you put it in the fridge:
Preheat Oven to 400 degrees F. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. Cool completely.

I made the mistake of giving a preschooler and a toddler rolling pins. You can see Michaela Byrd brandishing hers like a pair of nunchucks. Also, I have no words for the mess on my fridge. I'm sorry.

So many, many little hands in the dough. So glad we weren't giving these away to anyone!

Some people have different rolling techniques than others....

When it's all said and done, you have a nice batch of cookies.

I love it when they don't burn on the underside!

Time to ice!

{Icing}
Recipe from my friend Susanne

Take 1 stick of (slightly softened) butter and 1/2 stick of Crisco (eew, I know!) and place them in a bowl or mixer. I used my Kitchen Aid for this job. Mix until really smooth.
Add 1 t. vanilla, 4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar, and mix really well on low speed. Add 1 T of milk if the icing is too stiff and thick.

We decided to color some of our pumpkin cookies, and I managed to find a box of Wilton's coloring pastes at AC Moore. I used a 40% off coupon and only paid about $8 for 12 icing colors.

It's hard to get a good shade of orange, but this is what we got:

Some people insisted on wearing their pumpkin hats during this stage.


All that's left to do is sample your work (after eating a good dinner, of course)!


And because they completely wore me out I was feeling like an extra nice Mommy, I let them watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown after dinner and dessert.

According to tvguide.com, this will be airing on Tuesday, October 27th, at 8 pm (ET). I love this classic!

Have you started any Fall traditions? We're at the pumpkin patch this morning with our MOPS friends. This is a fun new tradition for us: cookies, a movie, and then finding some real pumpkins!

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21 comments:

  1. What a wonderful tradition. Adorable helpers. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. The cookies look wonderful and your cutie pies had a great time!

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  3. Oh, Amanda, what precious little helpers you have ... and I love the pumpkin hats!

    My four-year-old granddaughter Avery Grace loves to cook with me, and there's just nothing like seeing those little hands busy "kneading, whisking, and stirring," and seeing the pure joy in her eyes.

    I loved this post and appreciate the tip on "The Great Pumpkin" special. I'll have to tell my daughter about it so Avery can watch it.

    P.S. ... I'm going to add you to my blog list so I can see more stories about your precious little ones.

    Sincerely,

    Janie

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  4. The cookies look delicious - and what cute photos! That is so nice that you started a Hallowe'en/autumn cookie tradition with your children.

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  5. The recipe is great, but the pictures are priceless. There is nothing better than letting kids in the kitchen (for them, not you :) My favorite is the pumpkin hat :)--a fashionista and a chef!

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  6. Those cookies look cute & yummy! I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to help me cook. Thanks for the heads up on the Charlie Brown special too, I love watching that on tv every year!

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  7. Gotta love those cooking hats!! And such cutie pie helpers...
    Hey I suggested to Kate that maybe she'd want to pair up some people for guest blogging (you and I for instance, and you could write the witty and I'd write the dull and boring practical part, ha!)...anyway, just thought I'd share my brilliant idea with you and see what you thought. If you hate the idea, of course just say so! :)

    Suzanne

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  8. You sure do have some cute little helpers...enjoy every minute of this time...you see I'm a "empty nester"...looking forward to grandkids now! They look GREAT...job well done by all.

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  9. Let me just say that your blog title caught my attention as well as the iced cookies. Iced anything gets my attention! Love it. Love that it also involves premade cookie dough. I looked to see if we had any dough...OH NO! Guess I have to go to SuperTarget. Yeah me!

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  10. Family baking time is so much fun, and those cookies look great! Hope the clean-up didn't take too long.

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  11. Mmmmm! Those look SO yummy!!! And the girl's pumpkin hats look so stinkin' cute! Where did you get those?

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  12. Stopping by from Rhoda's recipe party. These sound great...the helpers are precious!!!

    sweetjeanette.blogspot.com

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  13. Looks YUMMY!!! and I like to see kids helping in the kitchen.
    Geri

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  14. Thanks for the heads up about the Charlie Brown movie! I always make sure to watch that every year (or at least have it on my TV in the background)

    I love your girls' pumpkin hats - so cute! :)

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  15. Those look great! Such great little helpers you have:)

    Tamera@doubledelight

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  16. Thanks for coming to work with me today..wish you would have brought some of those cookies with ya~

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  17. Those cookies looked amazing!! Sugar cookies are my favorite. Our favorite fall tradition is just going to pick out pumpkins and mums for our porch. We make a day of it:)

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  18. This reminds me of days gone by with my two daughters. They always loved to "help" in the kitchen. They loved to make sugar cookies and decorate them. We always had a mess - but such wonderful memories.
    Thanks for commenting on my blog.
    Give those litte ones a big hug tonight!
    Blessings,
    Donna

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  19. I have to get this for my little one. Thanks for sharing.

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