Happy Inauguration Day!

To celebrate President Obama's first day in office, I made Obama Sugar Cookies:
















I know the frosting job is a little sloppy but cut me some slack, the mice did eat my frosting bags so I had to resort to Ziploc bags to decorate this bunch.

These were gobbled up at work, especially since I brought them into the conference room that was booked as an inauguration viewing room.

It was truly a moment to remember, being squeezed in with 70 - 80 people, watching Barack Obama give his inauguration speech (the communications major in me approves of his speech and his speaking style) and having the whole room clap in unison with the hope and joy we were feeling.

Anyway, back to the cookies. I used a cream cheese sugar cookie recipe from Allrecipes.com that also had almond flavoring - yum! I modified it based on the review of another baker who had tried the recipe.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour and baking powder until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight. I just chilled my dough for 30 minutes and it turned out just fine.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.
4. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting

I went with a new recipe for the icing, dumping my usual buttercream recipe for Allrecipes.com's Sugar Cookie. As a warning, this icing is super-sweet so you'll want to use it sparingly on the cookies. And although I loved the hint of almond flavor, I think the regular buttercream tastes better. However, nothing beats the glossy finish this icing has so you be the judge!

Sugar Cookie Icing

INGREDIENTS (I ended up tripling this recipe to have enough icing to frost 3 dozen cookies)

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup (I used 4 teaspoons to get the right consistency)
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• assorted food coloring (I used food coloring paste for more intense color)

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.