Sugar Gems

I am thrilled to present to you this great gem of a recipe from one of my new favorite food blogs: Mel's kitchen cafe. I love this lady (although my thighs should probably hate her... LOL)! There are so many terrific recipes on her website that I have been drooling over, I am literally dreaming of them at night- no kidding!

So, after much deliberation on what to bake last week (oh, the choices!), I narrowed it down to this sugar cookie recipe- it sounded so intriguing! Sure enough, these cookies were incredibly easy to make, yet unbelievably yummy! I love sugar cookies but am not always in the mood for rolling dough and cutting out shapes. These sugar cookies are exactly what they are called- gems! Delicious with minimal effort- just roll into little balls and flatten with a glass! They are terrific to eat just like that, with no icing on them (and I did just that, as soon as the first batch was out of the oven- mmm, melt in your mouth good!!).

They did come with their own recipe for icing though and I have to admit I was a little skeptical about it, as it was with oil, not butter and I had never heard of such an icing before in my life. However, it was actually a very pleasant surprise. The only thing I would change next time I make the icing is to add some food coloring to it, as the natural color is not pure white (I think the oil and the vanilla extract contributed to the off-white tint and made it look more like maple icing). The sprinkles more than made up for it though. :) Everybody who tried the cookies, loved them (except for my husband but that’s not saying much as he just doesn’t care for sugar cookies at all- I don’t know what’s wrong with him but I have decided to keep him anyway!:). My son, on the other hand, ate 8 of them at one sitting- not with my permission either! :) My little Lizzie, the sharing an caring soul that she is, saw me decorating them and pleaded with me to take some to her preschool class on the following day. So, her classmates and teachers got to sample these sugar gems too. And from what I heard, they were all quite happy.:) I was asked for the recipe too.

 

Sugar Gems

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 5 cups flour
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions: 

Cream together powdered sugar, granulated sugar, oil, and butter. Add eggs and vanilla extract, beating until well incorporated. Add the flour, cream of tartar, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Roll into golf size balls and place on cookie sheets. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes. Cool, frost with sugar gem frosting and decorate with sprinkles of your choice.

Note: The recipe yielded about 80 cookies, so if you do not need that many, you may want to consider halving it. In my family, the huge yield was not a problem- they were literally gone in two days, even with no help from Daddy! :)))

Sugar Gem Frosting:

• 2-2 ½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
• 2 tsp flavoring (almond, vanilla, coconut, etc.)
• 3-4 Tbsp milk
• Food coloring (if desired- I personally recommend it)
  
  Directions:
  Mix all ingredients well and add a little more milk or powdered sugar to get the desired consistency.

Recipe courtesy: melskitchencafe.com