Happy Valentines Day! I am not the greatest cookie decorator, but I thought I would share these special LOVE cookies I made for my friend Ursula’s very surprise engagement. A few weeks ago, I was supposed to go to Seattle but wasn’t sure if I was going to make it, but I had a feeling Ursula’s boyfriend Chris might propose to her before their housewarming party…I text him something like, “Hey I might not be able to make it to Seattle this weekend, but if you have any ‘special’ plans there is no way I’m going to miss out!” I proceeded to find out he indeed was proposing…so I rushed so make these cookies as a special surprise.

These are the best sugar cookies ever, we also found a great royal icing recipe that I’ll post below. But OMG I still can’t believe one of my BFF’s is getting married!!! One year back in college, Ursula and I both didn’t have Valentines, but Thank God we had each other…She made me one of the most gigantic and awesome Valentines Day cards I have probably ever received (sorry Jordan) and we ended up having a pretty hilarious day. I still Love You Baby Urs!!!

Regardless of your relationship status, at least eat a lot of chocolate today. Or drink. Or BOTH!!! These cookies are the next best thing (possibly better).

Recipe
Classic Sugar Cookies (Grammy’s Recipe)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup sour cream
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp nutmeg

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla, mix thoroughly. Add sour cream, mix
thoroughly.

Sift together flour, salt, soda, baking powder and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture in
two parts and mix thoroughly.

Divide into two parts and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Roll out cookies on a floured surface until they are about 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut cookies into desired shape, or use the rim of a wine glass to make circular cookies.

Cook at 400 degrees F on a greased cookie sheet for 10 minutes. You never want them to get too browned around the edges, or they’ll be super crunchy. We like ours on the softer side.

Recipe
Royal Icing
from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

• 3¼ cups powdered sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• Food coloring (optional)

Directions

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat powdered sugar and egg whites until white, thickened, and tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Add water by the tablespoonful until icing no longer holds a peak. Divide icing into smaller bowls and color with food coloring as desired.