A lot of people ask me if I eat my cookies… um, heck YES I do!  I love cookies and I love playing around with flavors.  My favorite combination that I created was Chocolate Chipotle.  The rich chocolate with notes of cinnamon that finished with a bit of heat at the end.  Yum!  You may have noticed I said “was” my favorite combination.  That is because when I was trying to come up with something special for Mother’s Day cookies, raspberries came to mind.  I started with the lovely NFSC {No Fail Sugar Cookie) recipe and added some flavors and realized almond would add a perfect nuttiness to the cookie, and… I created a monster!  

I seriously could not stop eating the dough!  The raspberry and almond dough was a touch softer than the regular NFSC recipe but it still rolled out beautifully and baked up with nice, sharp edges.  Then it was time for a baked taste test and if I do say so myself, the results were gorgeous!  I added a tiny bit of almond, and some raspberry extract to the royal icing to bring out the flavors a bit more with the decorations.  

I didn’t want to take my word for it, so I tested it out on everyone.  Mr. John is always my first victim, I mean helper.  {Don’t tell anyone, but he is not a big fan of sugar cookies, gasp!}  He took one bite and his eyes went wide, “What is that?”  Needless to say, not his usual reaction.  I think he even finished the whole cookie.  The kids loved them, but they have never met a cookie they didn’t like and have been known to eat 2 week old cookies, even though I tell them, “Life is too short to eat stale cookies!” so they are not to be trusted.  

I needed more tasters.  I used my new recipe to bake up the batches of cookies for my McGoo U students to decorate.  They all enjoyed the flavors, so after class I sent them home with the recipe to test it out.  I gave the recipe out to a couple of other people to test in their kitchens.  I made some for my mom and dad, my brother, sister-in-law, and their almost 2 year old nephew {who kept stealing them from the platter} and they were well received… devoured, received, whatever you want to call it. 

Now that this wide range of people have tested and tasted this recipe, I think it’s ready for a wider audience.  So now that I’ve hyped this recipe and your expectations are high, I am scared to share it in case you don’t like it.  Or it doesn’t work for you.  I hope it does.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Super simple, right?  I am not one for fuss.  Okay… so maybe when I decorate I can get a bit into the “fussy” territory.  I never chill my dough, I don’t use a silpat or parchment paper.  I use 1/4″ wooden dowels to keep my dough an even thickness when rolling out, and I use wax paper on top and bottom instead of flouring any surfaces.  Easy peasy.  

*I used McCormick raspberry extract and LorAnn’s almond emulsion

Have a fantastic day and if you try out this recipe, let me know how it works for you!