Spring is Here

I am 100% sure Spring has sprung. My itchy nose and eyes prove it. The trees have new green leaves and the plants are blooming. The weather is amazing right now, blue skies, a slight breeze, and sun shiny days. In honor of the new season, I decided to whip up some springy cookies. These are so cute with the blue glaze and these adorable pastel sprinkles. I have a confession, I have an obsession with sprinkles. My favorite place to get them are from the dollar aisle at Target. They come out with new sprinkles every season/holiday and I probably have almost every single one. I have a large plastic box that I keep all of my decorating supplies in. It's filled with sprinkles, frosting, food coloring, cupcake liners, piping bags, cookie cutters, and lots of other goodies. Here is my sprinkle collection:

On a side note, last night I went to a the Cindy Wolf Humanism in Medicine talk featuring Dr. Rachel Remen. She is the author or Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather's Blessings and also the creator of The Healer's Art program. She is inspirational. Myself and a group of other medical students just finished the Healer's Art course and I loved it. I truly do believe what I learned and experienced will make me a better doctor. Last night, Dr. Remen told stories. She is a master storyteller. I have heard almost all of the stories she told nearly three times now, but they still brought tears to my eyes last night. They are so touching and moving, yet most of them are so simple.

Back to the treats. These cookies are really really tasty. The recipe called them teacakes because they are like a dropsy cookie on the outside but light and cakey on the inside. They aren't too sweet, which I like, and the glaze adds the perfect touch. These are the perfect cookies to bring in Spring.

Teacakes
adapted from Delicious Inspiration

For the cookies:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour

For the glaze:

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• Enough water to make a thin glaze
• Food coloring
• Sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and grease a few cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, adding the eggs one at a time and then mix well. Add the vanilla extract, then the flour and stir until everything is well incorporated.

Roll dough into small balls and slightly smash down and place onto the baking sheets and bake until lightly golden on the outside, about 8-12 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack before glazing.

In a small bowl, make the glaze by whisking together the sugar and water, adding as much as you need to get a thin, pourable glaze (this should only be a couple tablespoons of water, add it slowly!). If your glaze gets too runny, add a little more powdered sugar until you get the right consistency. Add the food coloring until you get your desired shade of happiness (I added one drop of blue to get my springy blue color), then dunk the cookies in and let them dry on a cooling rack, sprinkling away before the glaze sets.