Sodalicious Cookies

Recipe Adapted from Favorite Family Recipes

INGREDIENTS

For the Cookies:
1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. canola oil
1 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. water
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
5 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. salt
For the Frosting:
1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sour cream
1/2 tsp almond extract
dash of salt
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp. milk (or as needed, to taste)

DIRECTIONS
For the Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
In a stand-mixer or large mixing bowl, combine butter, oil, sugar, powdered sugar, and water. Cream together and slowly add in eggs. Then add almond extract, and mix thoroughly.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix well and slowly add to the butter/sugar mixture until combined and doughy.
Roll dough into golf-ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silpat.
Dip the bottom of a glass into excess sugar and press on to each dough ball (re-dipping in sugar each time) to flatten the cookie to about 1/2 inch in thickness.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until bottom is lightly golden-brown. Do not over-bake. Set aside to cool.
For the Frosting:
Cream together butter, sour cream, extract, and salt. Slowly add powdered sugar, and mix until desired consistency (you may not need all of it). Add milk to thin if needed. Mix in food coloring to desired hue. Spread over cooled cookies and serve! Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator to get that soda shop experience.

Guys, I am slowly increasing my A1C with the addition of SodaBomb! in Roosevelt- they are fantastic! Thankfully, they do not have Sugar Cookies every day like those other soda shops (Sodalicious, Swig) and I can keep myself in check. BUT their sugar cookies are vanilla flavored- still delicious- but they don't quite live up to the amazingness that is a Sodalicious Sugar Cookie… sorry Swig, the one time I gave you a chance-at the original, your sugar cookies were meh. Anyway, I had to find something to fill in the void, and I finally gave making some myself a chance. I'm SO glad that I did. These are SO good! If you are a monster, and do not like Almond Extract, go ahead and make them with Vanilla- just know that they won't be as good! Also, these get SO MUCH BETTER after sitting in the refrigerator over night.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Recipe Adapted From Alina Design Co

INGREDIENTS

1 package (2 sheets) puffed pastry

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter (melted)
Cinnamon Sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Unfold then use a rolling pin to spread out the puffed pastry. Place one sheet of puffed pastry onto parchment. Spread cream cheese mixture onto puffed pastry, top with other sheet of puffed pastry.
Seal sides by pinching them together. Spread melted butter over the top, and generously sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool. Serve warm.

Once upon a time, I pinned the recipe for this on Pinterest, and it became my mom popular pin. Like, it was on the Most Popular Page for like 3 weeks. It was the most annoying thing of my life! And then Pinterest stopped being an invite only website, and the jets were cooled. Unfortunately, the annoyance caused me to resent the pin, and I never made the recipe. What a foolish decision that was, because this is AMAZING. The original recipe says to use Crescent Roll Dough, but I think that it's too greasy and too savory of a thing, AND when I made this in a bind, all I had was some Pepperidge Farm Puffed Pastry Sheets. Best ingredient swap of my life! Make this, you will not be disappointed! 

Puffed French Toast

Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites

INGREDIENTS

1 loaf french bread, cut into 1 inch slices*

3/4 cup sugar

1.5 tablespoons cinnamon

2 eggs
2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. milk
1 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Vegetable Oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

In a shallow baking dish, mix sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil to 375ºF.

While the oil is coming to temperature, thoroughly combine eggs, remaining sugar, salt, vanilla extract, milk, flour and backing powder in a pie dish.

Working quickly, take each slice of french bread, and soak both sides in the batter. Shake off excess, and place in hot oil. Fry until puffed up and golden in color, about 3-4 minutes per side.

Remove from oil, and place on a cooling rack lined with paper towels to cool. While still warm, coat in cinnamon sugar mixture.

Serve warm with whatever your heart desires. We like it with fresh strawberries, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream.

I'm a Mormon. I guess that needed to be said for the story? Anyway, I was watching General Conference with my friend, Marina. And in between the Saturday Sessions a commercial for a cookbook came on, and it showed a picture of this puffed french toast. And I KNEW that I needed that cookbook, because I NEEDED to make that french toast for our Sunday General Conference Breakfast the next day for all of our friends. So, after the afternoon session, we drove to Deseret Book, purchased it, found the recipe and straight to Walmart to grab the ingredients. We forgot to grab the Texas Toast the recipe called for, but there were loaves of french bread next to us. Laziness prevailed, so we grabbed a loaf, and then the adaptation that created my FAVORITE breakfast was born!