A Newport Tradition

A little DIY rewind.....

Every year at Christmas, Newport Mom has always made a ridiculous amount of cookies, so when I asked her to make about 200 for the wedding, she was up for the challenge. They are perfect to make for weddings, because unlike other cookies that taste better within a day or two of baking, sugar cookies have a longer shelf life and can be made in advance. We decided to use Newport Mom's sugar cookie recipe, which has been around longer than me. I asked Newport Mom for the recipe to share with the hive and she even added a few tips. Sugar Cookies
1 cup margarine (2 sticks softened)
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Mix cream, margarine and sugar until fluffy
Add vanilla and egg to mixture and mix well
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and add to mixture
Mix everything well
Cover dough with waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours
Divide dough into manageable amounts and roll out over floured waxed paper
Cut dough with cookie cutters and place on ungreased cookie sheet
Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes
Tips:
Press metal spatula into dough and then flour to help remove cut cookies from wax paper onto cookie sheets.
If you like crispy cookies, roll the dough out thinner and remove from the oven when the sides just start to brown.
If you like a chewy cookie, roll the dough out thicker and remove from oven right before the sides begin to brown.

After the cookies were baked, the next step was to decorate! I had to work the morning they started decorating, so I came home to a kitchen full of cookies and icing. The first cookie I saw wasn't what I expected. They had tried out a meringue recipe for the frosting from Allrecipes.com (we love that site), which had awesome reviews, but it didn't look pretty. Luckily while I was gone, Sister Newport told Newport Mom after 2 cookies it was a no-go and they moved on to plan B.
As plan B, Newport Mom made her special glaze - which I thought she planned to do all along. I asked for the recipe and she said she can't give one because she doesn't measure, but all it is, is confectionary sugar and milk mixed together. She said you need to mix it until it comes to a consistency you like. I was surprised, I've had these cookies a ton of times and had no clue the glaze had only two ingredients. With the exception of the colored glazes, which she added some gel food coloring.

Then we got to work. We iced the cookies. I was pretty awful at it, so I was put in charge of the detail work.

Newport Mom was a jack of all trades and pretty much did everything from the baking to icing to decorating. She used a piping bag to put details on the light house cookies.
I made a mess with it, so I used a red candy decorator for my detailed work.

After two fun mornings of decorating, the cookies were complete! I'm so excited we got to include my favorite holiday tradition into our wedding, although with Christmas around the corner I may have burnt Newport Mom out with her cookie making. Hopefully she'll be up for round 2 in a couple of months! This is one project I definitely couldn't have done on my own. Newport Mom and Sister Newport were amazing!

Did you have a lot of help with any diy projects?