Bakery-Style Soft Sugar Cookies

So, the bummer about having small kids and loving to bake sweets is that most schools these days won't let you send in homemade treats. (Now, calm down, I understand why this is, we have good friends with food allergies, but it's still a bummer!) 

So, my guys have learned to love those sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles from the grocery store bakery-- since that's what so many of their friends bring for birthday treats. I'm not a huge fan, but after weeks of begging for me to make some, I gave in, and made these for my guys.

What You Need:
For the Cookies:
5 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (unsalted) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (granulated) sugar
2 cups powdered sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream

For the Icing:
1 - 8oz. block cream cheese (at room temperature)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (at room temperature)
4 cups (approx. 1 pound) powdered sugar

Yield: 4-6 dozen 2" cookies
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Ruffle Cake Tutorial - Valentine's Day

Ruffle cakes are so, so pretty. And honestly, I expected them to be harder than they really are. The biggest challenge-- having enough icing!

What You Need:
Cake (This is a 6"x2" cake.)
Buttercream Icing (I used this Decorator's Buttercream Recipe.)*
Piping Bag with Tip #104

*Note: For a 6" cake, I used about 4-5 cups of icing. If you're making a more traditional, 8-9" round cake, and if it's taller, you need to make a double batch, just to be sure -- Especially if you're coloring the icing. (You always want to have more icing than you need because getting it the exact.same.color is really hard.)

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