Valentine's Day Cookies

What better way to tell your Valentine "I Love You" than by baking him/her some cookies?

Sugar cookies are the perfect choice because of their versatility and blank canvas for decorating. If you'd like to get a little more creative you can add different flavors to your sugar cookies, as I've done in the picture above. There are I've Got the Hots for You Mexican Chocolate, You Spice Up My Life Brown Sugar Spice and You Brighten My Days Lemon Sage.

My favorite recipe for sugar cookies is a cream cheese sugar cookie. I've modified the recipe from Karens Cookies just slightly.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 c butter, softened
8 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt
3 3/4 c all-purpose flour

I like to soften my butter by letting it sit on the counter for a couple hours (or even a couple days). I like to soften cream cheese by unwrapping it and microwaving it for 30 seconds at 40%. If you have a powerful microwave, do less. It needs to be soft, but not runny.

Cream the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat well. Add in the egg and extracts. Beat well making sure everything is evenly incorporated. Add in the salt and flour and mix slowly until evenly combined.

Divide dough into thirds (I find this to be the easiest amount to work with). Place each third on a separate long piece of plastic wrap. Place another long sheet of plastic wrap on top and roll out to 1/4 in thickness. Okay, so this doesn't have to be exact, but you don't want them too thick. By rolling the dough out between plastic wrap you 1) don't have to worry about it sticking, 2) don't mix in any flour, 3) can make more cookies without changing the consistency of the dough, and 4) can put them in the fridge or freezer to chill all ready rolled out saving you time chilling and rolling. I know I can't be the only person that thinks it's harder to roll out chilled dough.

Chill the dough well. I usually put it in my freezer and then don't have to worry if I don't have time to cut and bake for the next week. Cut into the desired shapes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. Cool on cookie sheet for two minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

I've Got the Hots for You Mexican Chocolate
Decrease the flour to 3 1/4 c
Add in:
3/4 c cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp chili powder, more if you're adventurist

You Spice Up My Life Brown Sugar Spice
Replace sugar with 1 1/2 c unpacked brown sugar
Add in:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Penzeys Baking Spice or pumpkin pie spice

You Brighten My Days Lemon Sage
Add in with the extracts:
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
2 generous Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
These were particularly good with a lemon glaze...1 c powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Happy Baking!