Parent Volunteer Gifts - Mini Cookie Jars

Every year I make something at the holidays to thank all of the parent volunteers that help in my classroom.  I've made fudge, banana bread and caramels over the last few years.  This year I decided to do something new.  I made mini sugar cookies and put them in canning jars.

I have a sugar cookie recipe that I found a few years when I was having my niece over for our first Auntie and Ruby cookie decorating day.  It is from Food Network. It uses granulated and powdered sugar, which I think makes them a little fluffier.  It also calls for orange zest, which adds a nice flavor to the cookie.

Sugar Cookies
From: Food Network 
 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Directions:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the egg yolks, vanilla and orange zest mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.  
Roll dough between lightly floured parchment, or waxed paper, until about 1/3-inch thick. Transfer sheets to a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter, place them on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. (Gather the dough scraps together, pat into a disk, chill and reroll.)
Refrigerate cookies while preheating the oven to 375 degrees F, for at least 30 minutes.
Bake the cookies, until the bottoms are golden, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on shape. Cool on sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired and serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

 

I've tried a few different royal icing recipes, but I came across this one recently from  Sweet Sugarbelle and will probably stick with it.  

Royal Icing

From: Sweet Sugarbelle

  

Ingredients

• 4lbs {two bags} confectioner’s sugar
• 3/4 c. meringue powder
• 1 1/3-1 1/2 c. warm water
• 2-4 tbsp. oil-free extract or flavoring

Instructions

1. Add the dry ingredients first. Use your mixer’s whisk attachment to incorporate the sugar and meringue powder.
2. Add the extract to the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while mixing. At first the icing will be very liquid-like.
3. Continue to mix it at medium-high speed until it is fluffy and stiff peaks form, about 7-10 minutes. Mixing times are approximate, keep your eye it icing and stop mixing as soon as it becomes stiff.

 

I spent a Saturday night working on them, but I'm really happy with they way they turned out.  My husband thinks I'm crazy because I enjoy doing this, but now I'm looking for more excuses to make decorated cookies.