Having Cookies instead of Cakes for your Birthday - By: Jelie Osorio

Description : Almost all occasions in the United States are celebrated with some cookies for dessert. Birthday cookies are one of the most interesting cookies made since the type of cookie is personalized for the birthday celebrator. Here are the ingredients needed in making a birthday cookie:

1 ? cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
5 cups of flour
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or you could add ? teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg or peppermint which you think best describes the celebrator)

Preparation

Step 1: Whisk the flour in a large bowl with the powdered flavoring of your choice. Mix the softened butter and white sugar in another bowl for about 2 minutes until it's fluffy. Beat the eggs with the vanilla extract before incorporating it with the mixed butter and sugar; continue mixing until smooth and creamy. Add the dry ingredients and you could actually use an electric mixer or a hand mixer whenever you are putting the ingredients together to achieve a better consistency.

Step 2: Smooth dough should be the result of your continuous mixing; if you could still see some wet parts then you need to continue mixing until smooth dough is accomplished. Divide the dough into 3 parts and refrigerate it for 2 hours or overnight until its firm. That's the cue that you could start rolling the dough for shaping.

Step 3: In a smooth surface, roll the dough and shift it from one side to another while putting some flour every time you flip it from one side to the other. On a thinly floured surface, roll the dough for about ? - ? inch thick depending on the size you want to make, but make sure you're still working on a cookie. Shaper your cookies up with a use of a cookie cutter or you can make a shape of your choice. Using a spatula, scrape-up the shaped dough on the baking sheets putting it an inch apart from the other.

Step 4: Place the unbaked cookies inside the refrigerator for about 10 minutes just to make sure that the cookies will not lose its shape.

Step 5: Before baking, preheat the oven up to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place the pan in the middle of the oven but make sure to sprinkle your sugar crystals before baking if you're using sugar crystals for your final touches instead of frosting or icing your cookies. Baking may only take up to 10 minutes and you'll know it is cooked when the edges are already brown in color. Now you can put your icing or frosting once the cookies are already cooled.

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Author Resource : Celebrate your kid's next birthday with this birthday cookie recipe or make the usual and learn how to make a cake in your own kitchen.