Bakesale Cookies

I was in desperate need of a good sugar cookie recipe (yes, I admit I don't have one currently) and a friend of mine recommended a recipe from Jill Saunders, who posted it on allrecipes.com. I absolutely love this recipe, but i did add a little (1/4) cup more flour. Another thing I like to do is roll the dough in powdered sugar instead of flour so the dough doesn't get tough. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/detail.aspx I used purple royal icing drizzeled over the cookies in a criss-cross pattern, which  doesn't just look neat, but is super easy.

Cornbread Muffins

This is a super-simple recipe for cornbread muffins, they are great served fresh with butter. In France you can't actually buy cornbread anywhere, it was hard enough finding the cornmeal! But it's fine because homemade cornbread always tastes better.Recipe adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Recipe Book. I made these in miniature loafs pans, and mini-canele pan, which look great in any Bento-lunch box, which seem to be all the rage now.

Ingredients:

• 
  
• 1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup(1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the 9 cups of a muffin tin. (makes more if using a cupcake tin)

2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

3. After the melted butter has cooled slightly, lightly beat it with the milk and eggs.

4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients, until just combined. Lumps in the batter are fine, but don't overmix!

5.Fill the muffin cups about three quarters full. 

6.Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden, when a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. Don't overbake.

These look great in any lunch box, packed with cheese or ham.