Have your ever started your own tradition? At what point is a tradition? I'm going to count something happening two years in a row as a tradition. And we have a Valentine's tradition..
Cookies + Date Night In.
And it's perfect.
The girls and I make a mess of from-scratch sugar cookies.. there is magic in those gluten 1:1 flours that allow you to take your favorite recipes and make them gluten free! (recipe to follow below) We bust out the mixer, butter.. all the pink & red sprinkles that are piled onto mounds of the best orange-cream buttercream frosting.
And then we have our own little date night in.. which for Seth & I means splurging on some filet mignon steaks & scallops, sharing a good bottle of red wine and cooking ourselves a five-star meal in our very own cozy kitchen.
First.. the cookies.
These are sooo easy and turn out SO good. Not like sugar cookie wanna-be's that end up crusty & crunchy.. but soft, chewy and awesome. I mentioned they are gluten-free - we use a good 1:1 gluten free flour blend (skip ones high in rice flour if you don't want crispy cookies).
Cream together:
2 Sticks Softened Butter + 1 Cup Sugar.
Mix in 2 Eggs + 4 Tablespoons Half & Half + a splash of Vanilla.
Mix well then add in 3 Cups 1:1 GF Flour (a cup at a time)
+ 2 Tsp Baking Powder + 1 Tsp Baking Soda.
Mix well with a dough attachment on a Kitchen-Aid or I use my hands.
Refrigerate dough at least two hours.
The trick to GOOD sugar cookies is that when you roll the dough out, don't use flour, but use powdered sugar to keep it from sticking! It will sweeten the dough and offer an amazing, soft texture. Roll, cut & bake at 350 degrees for about 6-7 min.
We love to do a classic buttercream frosting using 1 cup softened butter + 3-4 cups powdered sugar + 2 tsp. vanilla & 2 tbsp. Half & Half. We add in 4 drops of Orange Vitality oil for an "orange creamsicle" frosting that's to die for!
For our date night in.. we both love to cook together and always challenge ourselves to bring out the flavors of a dish with as few ingredients as possible. Seth usually takes care of the steaks & meats and I'll handle the sides or in this case of surf & turf.. I had the scallops.
Scallops can be tricky, because you can overcook them so easily.. I've overcooked many.. But I learned that a big part of cooking them is the pan you use. Typical non-stick pans won't do you any favors, and you want to make sure your pan doesn't have any hot spots. We have a Made In fry pan and we are obsessed - no nonstick finish to worry about flaking off, consistent cooking/results and its easy to clean.
With steaks, 99% of the time we use the smoker or grill, but with these fillets, a couple minutes searing on each side and finishing a couple minutes in the hot oven is perfect!
Served with Parmesan roasted asparagus & browned butter baby bella mushrooms.
Hope you all had the perfect Valentine's Day - whether it was wine + Netflix, a night out or in..
If you save the recipe & make these sugar cookies, we're thinking all things Spring & Easter now.. let me know! I can't wait to hear what you think!
