Do-it-yourself Cookies from the heart

CEBU, Philippines - As the month of love, February offers us many opportunities to express how much weappreciate the people we love. One of the things moms and daughters can do to show how great they think dad is would be to bake him a sweet treat from scratch!

 Baking requires great care in mixing ingredients. Miss out on one important ingredient and your cake or cookie will not taste right. Baking is very similar to our families. Every single member is important.

SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients:

2 ¾ 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

1 ½ 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°°oF (190o°C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake eight to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookies sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

4. For variation, you may wish to put nuts or candies (M&M's) in the cookies. Mix them in the dough, or just top the cookies with chocolate chips or chocolate mints.

Décor Frosting

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons milk

4 drops vanilla extract (optional)

4 drops red (or any color) food coloring

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, confectioners' sugar and milk for about three to four minutes or until it is light and fluffy.

2. Beat the vanilla and food coloring.

3. Spread the mixture on top of your sugar cookies for a yummy twist!

(Source: 2011 Family Calendar of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Fun Cookie Facts

Cookies are yummy. They are good for snacks, and some even have cookies for dessert! Here are cookie facts we got from www.best-ever-cookie-collection.com Enjoy!

• The first commercial cookie in the U.S. was the Animal Cracker, introduced in 1902. Animal crackers began as edible ornaments. Nabisco introduced Animal Crackers to the American public in 1902 as a seasonal item and its brightly colored boxes were promoted as Christmas tree ornaments (that's what the string was for!)

• The Oreo, the best-selling cookie of the 20th century, was developed and introduced by the American company Nabisco, in 1912.

• The U.S. leads the world as the biggest cookie bakers and eaters, spending more than $550 million annually on Oreos alone.

• The top 10 selling commerical cookies in the U.S. are:

1. Nabisco Oreo

2. Nabisco Chips Ahoy

3. Nabisco Oreo Double Stuff

4. Pepperidge Farm Milano

5. Private Label Chocolate Chip

6. Little Debbie Nutty Bar

7. Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream

8. Nabisco Chips Ahoy Chewy

9. Nabisco Nilla Vanilla Wafers

10. Private Label Sandwich Cookies

• In 1989, New Mexico named the “bizcochito” its official state cookie. Bizcochito, derived from the spanish word “bizcocho” which means biscuit, is a delicious shortbread cookie flavored with anise and topped with cinnamon sugar.

• The U.S. has a National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum located within the Joplin Museum Complex in Joplin, Missouri.

• Early American tinsmiths began making cookie cutters by hand back in the 1700s.

• American cookie jars evolved from British biscuit jars and first appeared on the scene during the Depression in the 1930s when housewives began making more cookies at home, rather than buying them at the bakery, and needed containers for them.

• Christmas cookies date back to Medieval Europe.

• Dutch and German settlers first introduced cookie cutters to America.

• German gingerbread (lebkuchen) was the first cookie/cake associated with Christmas.

• The Wellesley Cookie Exchange, a most famous American cookie exchange, began in 1971 as a way to relieve holiday stress and continues as of this writing.

• The official state cookie of both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania is the chocolate chip cookie.

• The chocolate chip cookie was invented by Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1930 at the Toll House Inn Restaurant in Massachusetts.

• Mrs. Wakefield sold her chocolate chip cookie recipe to Nestle, who began manufacturing chocolate chips in 1939.

• Half of all home baked cookies are chocolate chip.

• The Nabisco Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookie is the second best selling cookie in the U.S. right behind the Oreo. (FREEMAN)