Hello beautiful bakers,

I’m currently sitting on a college campus writing. I have all my Disney tour books out and I’m coincidently wearing a Disney teeshirt. Ok not coincidently because a lot of my clothing have some kind of Disney character on them.

When I lived in Orlando that was normal. Now that I have moved elsewhere it makes me look like someone who never grew up. When we moved here I was so shy to wear the clothing. I was incredibly worried about what people would think. Now I don’t care and I will proudly display my Minnie shirt.

Honestly, this shirt desperately needs to go into teeshirt retirement. It’s done it’s time and deserves a vacation to teeshirt heaven. The amount of holes in it say that. I just love it so much. I got it on my honeymoon to Disneyland. Do you have a shirt like that? Maybe it’s a hat that’s all falling apart or a bag that is so faded it has changed colors.

Speaking of things from the past I love, the inspiration for today’s cookies definitely fall into that theme. I have always loved the 101 Dalmations. My mom used to read me the book series. They were all in French and I spent a large part of my childhood thinking the Disney stories were only in French.

We are actually covering two recipes from the April Cookbook challenge; 101 Dalmatians Cookie Sensations and Icing Coats.

Let’s start with the cookie part first.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoons salt

• 6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons softened margarine

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, margarine, and sugar. Cream until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. It will be a pale color.

3. Into the butter mixture, add an egg and mix well.

4. Slowly add the flour to the butter mixture. Scrap down the bowl during the process to make sure it is fully mixed.

5. Split the dough into two sections. Wrap both and place them in the refrigerator or freezer overnight.

6. Preheat your oven to 350F.

7. Place a piece of wax paper on a clean surface. Sprinkle lots of flour over it, and finally

   place a disk of dough over the flour. Note: I had to add lots more flour to keep the dough together. It was way too sticky to roll out if I didn’t. I probably added almost a cup for each section. This will make the cookie dough tougher but it was necessary.

8. Cover with a remaining piece of wax paper and roll out to 1/4 inch thick. You don’t have to use wax paper on top but it makes it so much easier.

9. Place wax paper on a baking sheet.

10. Use your cookie cutter to cut out the dog shapes. I didn’t have the exact cutter they have in the cookbook but use what you have.

11. Place the cookie on the baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Recipe two: Icing Coats

Ingredients:

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening

• 3 tablespoons softened butter

• 4 tablespoons milk

• 1 teaspoon almond extract

• miniature chocolate chips.

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips. Mix together well.

2. Spread the icing over the cooled sugar cookies.

3. Use the chocolate chips to make the dalmatians dots, eyes, ears and nose.

These cookies turned out way better than I thought they would. I would recommend placing the raw cookies on the baking sheet and in the refrigerator for a few minutes before baking. If the cookie dough had warmed during the rolling process chilling it will stop the cookies from spreading during the baking process.

Happy Baking Everyone!