Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Red Velvet Cookies


I'm very hesitant about putting pictures of my children on the Internet, but that doesn't stop me from talking incessantly about them :) The weekend before last my little 4 year old, Evan, entered a cookie contest and won 2nd place!! I honestly do believe I was more excited than he was, LOL! He worked so hard on his red velvet cookies. The only thing I did was to do the proper measurements and put them into the oven and take them out, he did everything else! I guess that is why it was even more special to me, that he cared enough to want to do it by himself. Sure he helps out to lick the batter or sneak a bite of this and that, but this time he was determined to make "his" cookies! I was just as proud as a peacock when they called to tell me he had won! He won $20 and immediately spent it on a Buzz Lightyear Snuggie for himself, and a Cars Snuggie for his brother, another big smile on my face for his generosity!
Did I mention that his 10 year old brother also entered the contest? He didn't even place, nor did my chocolate cake. But it doesn't matter, the fun we had that day makes it worth a million bucks to me!
I just hope he continues to want to bake with me, I would never pressure him into anything. The older 2 rarely want to bake anymore, so I'm just biding my time with Evan, silently holding my breath that he will continue to go grab his little apron whenever he hears me digging around for my pans! Well, I've done went and made myself teary eyed!
Here is his cookie recipe:

RED VELVET COOKIES:

Ingredients-

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon red food coloring
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) with the rack in the middle position. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Break the chocolate squares into chunks, place in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on High until the chocolate melts, about 90 seconds. Stir the chocolate until smooth and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until light and fluffy; pour in the egg and beat until smooth. Mix in the red food coloring and chocolate, scraping the bowl down regularly, until evenly blended, about 30 seconds. Add half of the sifted dry ingredients, stirring until well incorporated. Beat in the sour cream and mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake one sheet at a time in the preheated oven until they spring back when pressed, about 9 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
For the cream cheese frosting, whip 1/4 cup butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth. Blend in the powdered sugar in half cup portions until the frosting reaches the desired consistency.

*TIP* If you want the kids to do the icing, just put it into a decorator set like this
and put a large star tip on, we used a size 1M for this. It's very kid friendly and they really can't mess it up! I have the old plastic one. This one looks really nice!

Vicky

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