Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? If you raised your hand, then move along … this is for dinosaur enthusiasts only.
Well, okay, I won’t be that exclusionary. But still … I mean … they’re DINOSAURS!
So, when Ray and Nicole asked if I wanted to bake again for GameLoop Philly, my answer was “Of course!” In 2011, I made an assortment of mini cupcakes and lemonade-dipped sugar cookies, but for 2013 I figured I’d keep things simple with just cookies. It was the right decision, and people LOVED them. The perfect afternoon snack in between talks about game development.
What really makes these cookies work is the combo of the buttery and slightly salty sugar cookie paired with the root beer icing—which is easy to make thanks to root beer concentrate (McCormicks is one major brand). I used the same concentrate in my root beer float cupcakes, and they’re out of this world, so it’s an ingredient worth hunting down.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking silicone.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Using a standmixer, cream the cold butter and sugar into light and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the egg to the butter and sugar and mix to combine.
Add the vanilla and almond extract, mixing to combine.
Gradually add the dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl as necessary. The dough should be slightly tacky and a little crumbly. If it still feels wet, add more flour, 1 tsp at a time.
Scrape down the bowl one more time and place the dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
Once the dough has chilled, prepare your work surface to roll out the dough by scattering it with flour.
Roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thick.
Use your cookie cutters to cut out shapes, placing them on the prepared cookie sheets. Once a sheet is full, place it in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Once the cut out cookies have had time to chill on the pans, take them out and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Cool fully on a wire rack before dipping in icing.
For the icing, mix together the confectioners sugar and milk in a bowl with a fairly flat bottom (like a salad bowl). This can be a slow process, but take your time to get a good mix and not make a mess.
Add the vanilla extract and root beer concentrate and continue stirring to mix.
Once the cookies have cooled, dip them straight down into the icing. Pull up and let the excess drip off and place back on the wire racks lined with parchment paper. Let the cookies set overnight.
Say what?