Baby Love - Sugar Cookies

My friend Katie just had her 2nd baby! She had a BOY...yippee, little Collier (named after his daddy)! Katie and daddy Collier have not found out the sex of the baby with either of their children until the birth...I don't know how they can wait 9 months to know what they are having, but I guess that makes it all the more exciting! Since they had a girl, Kaylee for their first child, they were really hoping to have a boy for their 2nd. You see the dad is a former basketball player and was hoping to have a son to carry on his basketball genes! I was so excited to hear that they had a little boy! He is just adorable and teeny tiny from the pictures I have seen! So to celebrate this very special occasion I wanted to send Katie some of her favorite sweets, sugar cookies with icing! I was hoping to get to hand deliver these in person, but it just didn't work out. I just so happened to be back home in KY for work when the baby was born. But he was born 3 weeks early and had some trouble breathing, therefore having to stay in the hospital a week, so by the time he came home, I was already heading back to Mobile. The same week he was born his big sister was going to be turning 2 as well!

So since LOVE is in the air with new babies being born, families growing and Valentine's Day is just around the corner I thought it was appropriate to make some heart shaped sugar cookies.

I also snuck in a few cupcake shaped cookies using the new cookie cutter my sister gave me for Christmas.

Once the cookies cooled I piped around the edges with royal icing.

I wanted to make sure the big sis "Kaylee" had a special cookie just for her birthday!

I decided to use 3 colors for decorating my cookies: blue (boy appropriate), red & pink (for love).

After piping around the edges of all the cookies, it was time to flood them with a thinned down version of the same royal icing so that it would spread out and fill the cookie shapes.

I love how the red, blue & pink color combination turned out!

I monogrammed a few cookies with a "C" for baby Collier.

How cute are those cupcake cookies with sprinkles on top...I am going to have to make these again very very soon!

Not only do these cookies make a good baby gift, but they are perfect to send to loved ones this Valentine's Day!

I found the cutest little red mailbox in the dollar section at Target along with these little heart baggies. I packaged up these cookies and shipped them off to Katie, Collier, Kaylee and baby Collier! I just heard from them and it sounds like they are enjoying the cookies!

Basic Sugar Cookie Dough (Real Simple.com)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for shaping the cookies
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
• With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated (the dough will be stiff). Shape into a disk and (unless otherwise specified in an individual recipe) refrigerate, wrapped, for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
• Make cookies according using any shape cookie cutter you desire. Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out each disk 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheets; refrigerate until firm. Sprinkle with decorating sugar, if using, and bake until just beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week..

I used the Royal Icing recipe from the book Cookie Craft Christmas.

ENJOY!