Wedding Favors

It's so hard planning a wedding these days - there are just so many ideas out there. When it came to the wedding favors I didn't know what to do; but I knew I didn't want to give out something that would end up in a drawer never to be seen again or worse, thrown away in the trash can. My Mom quickly came to the rescue and offered to make cookies alternately dipped in chocolate and pink chocolate, the colors of my wedding (brown and pink). I thought it was a brilliant idea and we easily found some beautiful pink and brown boxes to present them to our guests at each place setting. After the wedding, several guests commented on how good the cookies were and asked, "where did you buy those cookies?" Imagine their surprise when I told them my Mom made them. Her effort of producing over 350 cookies in two days the week of the wedding more than earns her a showcase on my blog. She used a recipe found from our local newspaper, The Arizona Republic:

The Sweet Pea Sugar Cookies
(makes about 12 cookies)

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
Zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoon orange juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the egg, zest and juice. Mix until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour and baking powder until well mixed. Wrap tightly and chill for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm. Sprinkle flour along a clean surface and roll out dough. Use heart-shaped cookie cutters to cut out cookies. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake about 8 minutes, or until edges of cookies are golden. Timing will vary depending on the size and shape of the cookie cutter. Let cool.

The cooled cookies were then dipped either in melted milk chocolate or melted white chocolate (colored pink) and set to dry.

These cookies are delicious and stay moist and chewy for several days if kept in an airtight container.