My Stab at Butter Cookies

I have tasted plenty of cookies in my life, and I've liked about 98% of them. It's not easy to make me turn my nose up at a cookie, though it's even harder to make me say "This is one of the best cookies I've ever tasted." This is a story about one of the only cookies that will fit into my "best" cookie list, and my attempt to recreate it.


One of the best cookies I've ever had is the butter cookie from Antigo Bakery in Antigo, Wisconsin. Before I'd ever visited Antigo (Eric's hometown), Eric raved about the cookies, saying they were his favorite ever. When coworkers learned he'd be traveling home, they'd beg him to bring back the cookies, and they'd disappear within half an hour. I didn't believe the hype until I tried one. In fact, I don't think I believed the hype until I tried it for the second time. Maybe the third time. But I assure you, after you'd had a couple, they're addicting. I assure you, they melt in your mouth before you get the chance to chew them. I assure you, there's nothing like them.


So what do I try to do? I try to make something like them.


I know it will be incredibly hard to make anything like these fabulous, buttery, sweet sprinkled cookies, but I'm going to make many attempts until I come as close as I can. And before leaving for Ohio for Christmas, I had my first attempt.

[These are the real deal. THE Antigo Bakery cookies.]

Here's how I threw together my first attempt. I'll let you in on the outcome at the end.

First, you start with your necessary ingredients.

Then, mix the butter and sugar!

After the mixture is creamy, add egg, almond/vanilla extract and milk.

Mix until well combined.

Then turn your mixer to "low, and add the flour and baking powder.

Mix well again, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

(Uhh... Please excuse the next few steps that were not photographed for lazy/forgetful reasons.)

Then, take your dough out and roll on a floured surface.

Choose your cookie-cutter shapes and cut away!


Place the cut cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes, just until the edges get lightly golden.


Then, make your glaze! This glaze is SIMPLE.






Brush on the glaze, add your sprinkles and allow the glaze to harden before eating.

So, how'd the cookies turn out? Well, they were no Antigo Bakery cookie, but they were still good! I noticed the almond extract I added was somewhat overpowering, so I added a bit of vanilla extract to the dough at the end, along with about 1/8 cup of milk. They didn't have the exact consistency as the Bakery cookies, but even Eric admitted they were closer than he thought they'd be. I have another recipe for a butter cookie I'll try next and see if that's closer to what I'm looking for. Be prepared for a number of posts JUST like this one until I get to the perfect butter cookie!


P.S. Eric and I are heading up to Antigo January 8th for Christmas with his family, so I'll post more photos of the delicious cookie and the ADORABLE bakery, itself, after the visit!




Butter Cookie Attempt #1 (adapted from the Land-o-Lakes Butter Cookie recipe)


Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk (I added about 1/8 cup later)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (Again, started with 1 tsp almond, added 1/2 tsp vanilla later)
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder


-Combine butter and sugar. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add milk, egg and vanilla/almond. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low and add flour and baking powder. Beat until well mixed. Cover, refrigerate for one hour.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough onto lightly-floured surface, 1/2 of the dough at a time. Roll to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes and bake on lightly-greased surface for 5-7 minutes. Allow to cool, then apply glaze and sprinkles.


Glaze


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp milk


Mix all well, apply to cookies with a pastry brush!






Have you ever tried to recreate a recipe after tasting something phenomenal at a restaurant/bakery/store? How did your attempt come out?