day with kids |

Okay, so it has definitely been a hot minute since I’ve blogged, buuuut it’s the holiday season and that has been my excuse for absolutely everything. Over the holidaze, I love love love baking cookies. This year I made twelve different kinds – yes you read that correctly. It was an expensive and fattening weekend to say the least. One of my favorite kinds to make are sugar cookies simply because decorating them is so much fun and I really get to be creative. However, in my baking experience I noticed that so many sugar cookie recipes end up with me toiling in the kitchen rolling out the toys and making the perfect thickness of cookies just for them to expand in the oven. I need clean edges! Then, my life was changed and I stumbled upon a recipe and tweaked it a bit to make it perfect! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, unsalted, COLD. I also suggest slicing the butter at each Tbsp. mark as it will be easier to mix.
1 heaping cup of sugar
2 eggs
4 cups flour – be sure not to pack it when measuring!
3/4 cup cornstarch (this is the secret trick! Instead of baking powder, this will insure it doesn’t rise and leaven and spread).
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Parchment paper
Extra flour for rolling dough out

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Once combined, add eggs and mix on low speed until smooth. You don’t want to mix too fast and potentially melt the butter.
Add flour, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until all comes together. It may seem like an eternity but I promise it will all come together.
Flour a clean space as well as the rolling pin and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Use your cookie cutters and keep repeating this process until all the dough is used up!
Cook for 8-11 minutes. They won’t really brown, so be careful not to overcook them!
Let cool and then decorate with icing and sprinkles.

Here are my Christmas ones below!

Lions, tigers, and bears oh my! I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to the Bronx Zoo – it had to have been at least over 10-15 years. I went back in September, and just never got around to looking at the pictures or writing about it for that matter. I love animals of all kinds and I truly wish I could be surrounded by them all day. I would love to live on a farm and have my horses and cows, etc. I know a zoo has a bit more diversity of animals, but hey if I could live with a zoo in my backyard, I certainly would.

The Bronx Zoo is this incredibly expansive space right smack in the city, it’s actually amazing to think that right in there in between the hustle and bustle of the Bronx, is one of the largest zoos in the nation. With a multitude of exhibits, animals, and displays, the Bronx Zoo should definitely be on a bucket list for all. It is also a great place for people of all ages, especially the kiddies! There is just so much to see and eat! Don’t worry, they have trolleys so you don’t need to walk around everywhere. However, I didn’t tell my BF that, so we had a nice looooong day of walking 😉 Luckily there was a lot of animals to see to keep him busy from thinking about the walking…for the most part haha!

Since exhibits are always changing and being added, be sure to visit The Bronx Zoo site and see what you can expect before you go! Below are some images from my visit!