Our sugar saucers...

So, I'm not a great baker. I try, (frequently) as I love a good something sweet to go with my cuppa, but I've never really done enough baking to really understand what I'm doing.

When I saw these 'sugar saucers' pics last week and realised
a) I had everything I needed to make them already
b) They were very attractive to small children
c) The sprinkles would hide any certain baking errors I would make (ie burning)
and
d) It was half term this week

...then all the boxes were ticked. Job done. (well, almost.)

The original recipe comes from a great food blog Lottie & Doof.
As it's an American recipe (although they very kindly included a metric equivalent - thank god) there are some ingredients which aren't necessarily going to be in your cupboard.

However, (and remember I said I don't really understand what I'm doing when it comes to baking) I substituted the things I hadn't really heard of for things that I had heard of, and more importantly didn't have to scour Morrisons for.
Despite my lack of baking knowledge this seemed to work. (Note: google was very helpful in this matter.)

I also halved the listed quantities of the original recipe as even I could see that 600g of flour to start with was going to make a lot of cookies.


Sugar Saucers (from Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple by David Muniz, David Lesniak and Rachel Allen)
    *  4 cups (600g) all-purpose flour
    * 1 teaspoon baking powder
    * 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (I used rock salt)
    * 1 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    * 1/2 cup (120ml) canola oil (I used sunflower oil)
    * 1 cup (225g) granulated sugar
    * 1 cup (200g) confectioners’ sugar
    * 2 large eggs
    * 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
    * rainbow sprinkles or 'hundreds and thousands' for decorating

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cream the butter then slowly pour in the oil, and then add the two sugars, the eggs, and the vanilla. Make sure to stir well after each of the additions. Slowly add the flour mixture, about a quarter at a time. Mix just until the flour disappears. My dough was a bit sticky here so I added a touch more flour.
Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180c. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Divide the dough into small balls. Roll each ball in sprinkles until thoroughly coated.  Place them on baking sheets with enough room for them to spread (if you are making giant cookies you will probably only get 4 per sheet). Use your fingers to flatten each ball slightly.
I didn't roll mine nearly as small as I should, forgetting (or not knowing, actually) that dough spreads like a good'un.


Bake for 12-20 minutes, depending on the size. Bake until the edges start to turn golden. (if you catch them in time!).
If you and yours can wait, then cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 ...And it worked!
The children thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the process (well, except the waiting for them to cool down bit) and we had perfect half term treats for them and their pals.

And I learnt to trust myself a bit more when to comes to making biscuits...and, that practice makes perfect!!




Please note though, 300g of flour still makes a lot of cookies. And they're very sweet.

Enjoy x