(Because I had these ingredients in the house)
You guys. I had two days off in a row this week. This is unheard of for me. I didn’t even know what to do with myself… (Well actually that’s bold faced lie. I went to the zoo because elephants are the best things on the planet. I went to dinner. I went for drinks! Woo!).
I also decided to bake. The thing about deciding to bake in the middle of the day when I am home alone with no car to get to the grocery store, is that I have to work with what we have in the house.
Sometimes I have a fully stocked pantry and consider myself to be a kitchen goddess. MOST times however I am missing at least one ingredient to make anything worthwhile and have to improvise.
This is one of those times.
Sugar cookies are simple (boring)! Brown sugar has molasses and is gooey and gorgeous. I am weirdly stocked up on brown sugar. People LOVE brown sugar. People I know will LOVE these cookies. This will make people I know LOVE me! I win!!! Goddess status maintained… for now.
Here we go!
You will need:
-1 and ½ sticks of unsalted butter (I have said it before, but it bears repeating because I fear you may not listen, SOFTENED!!!).
-1 and ¼ cups brown sugar (cause’ it tastes so good… and if you thought for one second that I wasn’t going to reference the Rolling Stones in this post, then you don’t know me at all and I think you should leave).
-1 large (like me) egg
-3 tsps. vanilla (yes. That’s a whole lot. Yes. This is the second time I have used a weird amount of vanilla. Maybe the smell of vanilla extract causes me to go overboard. Maybe it was worth it. And maybe, just maybe we don’t judge).
-1/3 cup of granulated sugar (this is purely for rolling your cookie balls which is not a euphemism… but probably should be).
-2 cups all-purpose flour (I tried to find an all-purpose joke here, but I haven’t finished my coffee and am it’s just not happening. Perhaps one of its purposes should be to make me wittier).
-1 tsp. baking soda (not the box in the refrigerator absorbing the onion smell!).
-1 and ½ tsps. corn starch (you know, the one you bought to make my faux mein recipe and probably something else? Well here we go using it again. God I’m a genius!).
-¼ tsp. salt (I’m not gonna lie, I used maybe an extra 1/8 after that because salt in this recipe us magical!).
And away we go!
In a large bowl combine (and by combine, I mean sift together but I doubt you will do that and will just dump them in the bowl and mock me as you do it which makes you SO mean) the 2 cups (AP) flour, 1 tsp. baking soda (which gets clumpy and if you were sifting you wouldn’t have to worry about it), 1 and ½ tsps. corn starch and ¼ (plus a little more because we’re wild) salt.
Set aside (which you know we love to do).
In your mixer (or a large bowl if you are using a hand mixer or worse, your hands and a spoon), cream together (there is that phrase we hate because it sounds gross) the 1 and ½ sticks of butter and the 1 and ¼ cups brown sugar (be sure to take a whiff of that as it mixes and then thank me when you do because it’s one of the best smells on the planet and it’s about to get better).
Add the 3 tsps. vanilla and mix (also whiff again. You’re welcome).
Beat in the 1 large egg (that you cracked into a separate bowl because you listen to me… I hope).
Once the egg is incorporated (like Kids Incorporated… a reference no one will get but makes me happy because it brought us the likes of Fergie, and Jennifer Love Hewitt), one scoop at a time, mix the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients (and contemplate once again how sugar is considered a wet ingredient).
When the dough is well mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour and a half.
NOTE: THIS is why I have no yet told you to preheat your oven. I bet you thought I forgot, which makes you silly. OR you didn’t notice which makes me sad!
Once your dough is well chilled and seems like it would be easy to roll into balls, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Using a small ice cream scoop (because you have one of those by now) or a spoon, scoop about a tbsp. or so of dough and roll into a ball (using your hands because you’re not too prissy to do so).
Roll the cookie ball (hehehe) into the 1/3 cup granulated sugar (that you thought I forgot about because you’re particularly judgey today) making sure it is coated on all sides and place on a lined baking sheet.
Press each cookie ball (hehehe) down a little to make somewhat flat (like the picture that I’m not going to forget to post but not like the earth! Stop that nonsense people! The earth is ROUND like ME!).
Bake for 13 minutes or so (they will appear soft in the center, like me, and have golden edges… also like me).
Allow to cool before moving them to a plate (be patient for once or you will ruin your cookies and I will hate you probably).
Enjoy with coffee or tea or milk or booze or all of the above (Espresso martinis anyone???}.
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