Candy-Coated Sugar Cookies

Candy-coated sugar cookies, anyone? I know, I know: it's excessive, but is it really that much worse than lathering a cookie with icing? Well...ok, so I actually don't know. But, what I do know is I definitely don't care.

I was at the grocery store with my toddler a few weeks back, completely desperate to find something to appease her while she was on lockdown in the cart. She had had EEEnough of that granola-y, organic, good-for-you distraction food. She was over the pouches, over the rice crackers and was NOT EVEN about to go for dried apple pieces. We were headed south in a big way. But, luckily south was toward the cookie aisle. I think. Who knows. I'm bad with directions. Anyway, just as things were really about to go haywire, I spotted them: those sweet little pink and white circus animal cookies. Ya know? The ones with the rainbow colored sprinkle dots? The ones that remind you of your childhood and make you feel like a kid again? Ok...so maybe I wanted a nibble of that cookie as much as my toddler needed a distraction. What can I say? I'm a kid at heart. Yes, [insert huge disappointing sigh here] I felt kinda guilty about all the preservatives, and yes [insert even bigger, huge disappointing sigh here] I felt bad about the fact that they were probably extremely over processed. But, ya know what? That tiny terribly little unhealthy splurge is what inspired one of my new favorite cookies. So there. In your face, guilty conscience. It was totally worth it.

I start by making my regular ol' sugar cookie dough: butter, sugar, eggs, etc... And, everybody parties in the bowl until beautifully blended and a tasty dough has formed. I form it into disks, pop them in the fridge for a cool minute, roll it out and cut into precious and festive little shapes. Then, chill it again to make sure those cookies retain those festive little shapes and bake them until just golden. I set 'em aside, let 'em cool and melt down some sweet little candy wafers. Sugar cookies, I hope you can swim, cause you're about to take a dip...in melted candy. Lucky ducks. How fun does that sound? Afterwards, I sprinkle them with sparkly pretty little sugars and package them up for you to enjoy. Or me. Whatever. Call or email to order. These puppies are going on the menu.