Sochi Themed Sugar Cookies

It may seem silly, but every two years TCK's go through the 'struggle' of trying to figure out which country they want to cheer for during the Olympics.  I know this struggle is not usually a huge issue, but the question, "which country are you cheering for?" has been asked of me a few times these past couple of weeks.  My answer? I'm not picking one country, I'm cheering for all of 'my countries'.  Since South Africa did not make it to Sochi this year, that's one less country at least.  So the countries I have been cheering on are the United States, Belgium, Paraguay, and Taiwan.

Then other night I decided to make sugar cookies and I thought, "what better way to represent the countries I am supporting than in the form of sugar cookies?"  Here are the results of my night of baking with my mother's sugar cookie recipe that I used (I have converted all the measurements into metrics as well, for my my international friends).

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

1/3 c. butter, softener (76 g.)
1/3 c. shortening (76 g.)
3/4 c. sugar (150 g.)
1 tsp. baking powder (5 ml.)
dash of salt
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract (5 ml.)
2 c. all-purpose flour (250 g.)

In a medium bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Cover; chill for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  On a lightly floured surface roll a portion of the dough at a time until dough is 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick.  Cut dough using cookie cutters.  Place cutouts on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned.  Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute.  Transfer cookies to wire racks. Cool

Icing

For the icing I simply added a little bit of water to powdered sugar until I got a think icing and added food coloring to it.

United States

Belgium

Taiwan

Paraguay

Final Result

Other than the taste (yummy), the thing I really like about sugar cookies is that you can get pretty much as creative and artistic as your heart desires.  Feel free to comment and share pictures of your own sugar cookies. Enjoy! :)