Happy Valentine's Day! And Mardi Gras!! Cookies and Math

Loving that Mardi Gras is upon us! I've been crazy busy getting things ready  for next week since we've only got three days of school. And I'm heading home so I've got packing to do as well! Phew! Time sure flies when you don't want it to! I made some cookies for the parade.

Learn how to make the masks at the end of this post :)
And Valentine's Day.

In a different twist to my usual posting, I wanted to share my fantastic cookie recipe with you. It's been the BEST SUGAR COOKIE IN THE WORLD. No lie. Seriously. The. Best.

Now I've been making cookies for quite some time now, and I've tried many, many, many recipes but the trick comes from what works for YOU. Weather has a crazy effect on food, heating, cooling, opening the oven door too many times, etc.

Anyway, here is the recipe I use that I have perfected over the years: This makes about 3 dozen cookies, depending on how thick you roll the dough.

1 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (3 sticks)
2 cups sugar
2 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sour cream
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

First, cream the butter and the sugar. Add in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Sift together the flour and baking powder and baking soda. Then blend in the dry ingredients.

Roll dough to desired thickness. I roll to about 1/2 inch because I love how thick and soft the cookies look and taste!! Cut into shapes. Place cookies on un-greased cookie sheet or cookie sheet with a layer of parchment paper. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cookies look slightly golden.
And that's it!

You'll have some delicious cookies after this recipe! 

I have used Royal Icing, Color Flow, and Glaze icing. I like glaze the best, even though it makes the biggest mess in the history of the universe and ever, but it's yummy. Check out Cookie Crazie's Glaze recipe and tutorials. 

Awesome sauce! 

To make the Mask Cookies, cut out hearts from dough. Bake and cool. Choose your icing color and load into a decorating bag with a straight tip. Outline the cookie like the diagram below. 

Flood inside outline with icing. Let dry for 10-20 minutes and add details with other icing colors and let dry. 

Same thing with the Valentine hearts: outline, flood, detail. 

Like this: 

Ta-DA!!!!!

For my kiddos, I made these adorable Valentine Science Kits from Teach a Roo!

FANTASTIC find on Teachers Pay Teachers and her blog is amazing! 

Don't forget to check out my posts on Mardi Gras Math and Mardi Gras Madness, both math activities to add some carnival to your school day!

Happy Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, and Teaching!!