Paradise Bakery Sugar Cookies!

I have been thinking about these cookies.  Really thinking about them.  Like, eating breakfast thinking of them.  Training for the upcoming 1/2 marathon thinking of them.  Thinking of our desert Thanksgiving menu. Walking through the grocery store thinking of them.  I have sugar cookies on the brain!

My son and his fiance won’t be joining us in the California desert for our Thanksgiving in the dirt this year.  She is a critical care nurse and will be working on Thanksgiving.  My older son is flying home Tuesday (no flight delays please) so we are doing our own little Thanksgiving as soon as he walks in the door.  While I was shopping for Tuesday’s feast, I had to go down the baking aisle for necessary items.  That’s when I saw the colored sugar which of course drew me back to these cookies.  And since I’d been thinking of them so much I knew I had to make them.  Make them and freeze them so I don’t eat them all in one sitting kind of make them.

Total drag on the pretty blue colored sugar.  The seal had been broken and there was a large clump of sugar in the middle.  Not a problem, I broke it up with a butter knife and dumped a bunch onto a salad plate for rolling.  That’s when I saw it; dark clumps.  Super dark clumps and my thought went right to a bug of some sort.  That’s not going to work as bugs are not a part of this fabulous cookie recipe.  Good thing I keep red and green colored sugar on hand.  I buy it whenever I see it because it is ALWAYS gone come Christmas time.  So these aren’t the pretty Tiffany blue I’d made before but the red came out just as nice.  For Christmas I’ll roll them in red, green and white sugar.  That’ll be festive.

All of our Paradise Bakeries have been converted to Panera Bread and I am one sad girl.  Not only did Paradise Bakery have great salads, soups and sandwiches, their cookies were amazing.  This chocolate chip cookie loving girl loved their sugar cookies almost as much.  Almost, like maybe just one thin strand of hair less.  Their sugar cookies were that good.  But alas, they were gone.

Until the magical night this recipe popped up on my Pinterest feed.  I was doing tireless research for cookie recipes for my son’s upcoming wedding, specifically the rehearsal dinner.  We are doing it at the house and I thought a wide variety of cookies presented on a super-cute table would be perfect.  I had the chocolate chip recipe and was now focused on sugar cookies rolled in their wedding color sugars.  As I looked through recipes, I longed for the perfect little “chippers” that Paradise Bakery had.  As I’ve said many times before, I prefer my cookies smaller so I don’t feel guilty eating six.  Imagine my delight when I saw the picture of those beautiful cookies; I couldn’t click on the link fast enough.

Her first sentence had me hooked.  The exact recipe! I had everything in the pantry except the key ingredient, cake flour.  I had to wait until morning to hit the store for the cake flour as I’m sure zipping into the store in my pajamas and hair tied up out of my face would have been a major faux pas.  Yeah, that would have been a sight.

Onto the recipe.

First, cream the sugars and shortening.  Mix it on low for 30 seconds then bump it up to medium for three minutes. I’m always amazed watching the creaming process come to life in the mixer.

While that’s creaming away, measure and stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Toward the end of the three minutes, at the beaten egg and vanilla.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and mix until just blended.  It’s important not to over mix.  Try not to eat the batter.  I can’t be the only person that likes the batter as much as the finished cookie.  Tell me I’m not alone.

Scoop the dough, roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet.  These will bake 8-10 minutes, she emphasizes not to let the edges brown.  Paradise Bakery never served a sugar cookie that was overcooked.  Never, ever so we can’t either.

While the first batch is in the oven, I keep rolling away.  I like to let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two after I pull them out of the oven.  That goes back to my high school days working in a bakery.  Then I slide them on the counter or a wire rack to finish cooling, all the while trying not to eat them all.  I did really well this time as Mark and I each only ate one.

One of my favorite things about these cookies is they freeze well, which is something I was looking for in regards to the rehearsal dinner next year.  I’ll be busy enough wedding week and the last thing I want to do is show up for the rehearsal with cookie dough in my hair.  Am I right ladies?

These babies are safely tucked in the back of the freezer until Tuesday when Jeff comes home and we have our first Thanksgiving dinner of the week.  Any leftovers will be put in the RV freezer and enjoyed all weekend in the desert.

 

 

Paradise Bakery Sugar Cookies

Recipe Credit:  Noelle O Designs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups shortening
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, beaten
4 1/3 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Plain or colored sugar, for decorating

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl, cream together sugars and shortening using an electric mixer. Mix on slow speed 30 seconds, then scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Increase speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes.
Slowly add vanilla and beaten egg while mixing.
In a separate bowl, combine cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, mixing on slow speed until just blended. Do not overmix.
Scoop with an ice cream scoop and roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet. Flatten slightly with palm of hand.
Bake 9 to 10 minutes. Cookies are done when small cracks appear and are pale golden. Ideally, do not let edges brown.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.