Sugar cookies

Lately I've been caught up thinking about two ideas............change, and sugar cookies. They are the two foremost ideas floating around in my mind, and I cant stop thinking about the both of them.



Lets start with change. What I really really want to understand is, do people ever change? Optimistic me likes to think you can change. You can break old habits, and start new ones. You can become a better person, or change people's ideas of who you are. You can break out of old ruts and evolve into something new. But the realistic me knows that I have been trying to quit biting my nails since I was fourteen (because I had a date) but still they are tiny stumps, and that no matter how often I determine to run every day and fit into my skinny clothes, there is still a dress that hangs in my closet and only fits me about one month out of every year, and will I ever stop being a little bit in love with someone I used to know? Will people always tell me I'm cute and sweet, but not strong and brave. I wonder if I will ever really be everything I want to be. Will I always have such bad taste in men? Will I always have one cigarette ever month? Can we as people ever really change who we are? Or are we just 'doomed to be ourselves'? Stuck in a rut of who we are.



The second think I have been thinking about is sugar cookies. Yes this is a bit of a jump in ideas (but this is how my mind works, intense thoughts, and cakes....and thats about it.) I have been experimenting with all different designs of sugar cookies and spending hours icing and decorating them. Its so very rewarding when your left with beautiful ornate little pictures that you can eat.






I've been loving it so much because to me these cookies are a representation of change. They are so neat and tidy, and at times like can feel so messy. When I sit down and ice these cookies I can see the improvement every time I make them and it makes me think some things are changing. Some things are evolving and it gives me hope.





Every single little dot you pipe of a sugar cookie makes up the picture, and its a little like life. Every single little decision shapes our lives and directs us towards and away from change. Hopefully things are changing. Either way, my cookies are just lovely, and I'm pretty happy about that.

This is the base cookie recipe I used. I found it on taste.com.au and so far it has been the most reliable one. Hope you enjoy it.




Ingredients

• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
• 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup (70g) custard powder
• Silver and gold sparkling cachous, to decorate




Method






1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in milk and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour and custard powder.
3. Press the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to rest.
4. Divide the dough into manageable portions. Roll out one portion on a sheet of non-stick baking paper to about 1cm thick. Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut shapes and place on the trays. Decorate with cachous.
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden. Cool for 5 minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.