Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cookies

This afternoon my son saw a commercial for gingerbread cookies, resulting in his request of making gingerbread cookies. Unfortunately, I do not have the ingredients necessary for such a dessert. Instead, I decided to use what I have to create a sugar inspired cookie.


Here are the ingredients I have on hand: 

2 1/2 - 2 3/4 c. Baking Mix (depending on desired dough consistency :)
1 c. Sugar
1/4 c. Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 c. Butter
1-2 tsp Cinnamon (to taste)
Vanilla Extract (to taste)

I dumped all of the ingredients in the bowl simultaneously because I felt lazy. 

Using a whisk and  then a spatula, I mixed all of the above ingredients together. My son and I did two different kinds: Cookie cutter and drop. Why?

Reason #1: The dough did not become a roll out dough. Though, I adjusted the ingredients to manufacture the most "sugar cookie" like consistency, I didn't want to add too much of the baking mix for fear of the dough resulting in a bread like flavor... 

Instead, we improvised by pressing the dough into the shapes. They baked in toaster oven #2 -- given to us by a friend (though larger than toaster oven #1 it's prehistoric) -- at 300 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 

The first batch burnt. The cookies were too thick. As they spread, the edges baked too quickly.

The second round, we used half the of dough: just under 1/8 of an inch thick (comparable to a ball one inch in diameter).

Reason #2: Personally, I am not happy with the aesthetic of these cookies, feeling the detail is utterly lost. Our cookie cutters are two parts: one for the cookie, and one for the detail within the shape. We did a spring theme using the butterfly and flower. What we should see is the outline of the butterfly's body, along with the detail of each individual wing; in the flower, we should be able to see five separate petals surrounding an outlined center. Do you see a butterfly and a flower? Yeah, me neither, but my son had an absolute blast making these shapes, sprouting much joy within my heart. While this joy abated the disappointment in the amount of work involved for a result of an underwhelming picture, I didn't find them pretty and I wanted pretty cookies. After one and a half dozen shapes, 
I switched to drop cookies...

They are beautiful! 

Do not expect your traditional Sugar Cookie with this recipe.

With their crackle tops and golden brown edges, they are deliciously inviting. 

The texture is a good mix between crunchy and gooey, complimenting the cinnamon kissed sweetness. Salivaters line up! 

Regardless of shape, each cookie sheet housed six cookies roughly one inch in diameter, to allow them ample room to spread. Interestingly, the drop cookies did not spread as much as the cut out versions. This dough yielded two and a half dozen, keeping in mind my first batch was doubled in size. The next time I make this recipe, I expect to yield three dozen. 

We tend not to have every ingredient necessary for many recipes, resulting in my creative juices to get flowing. Case and point: My son wanted gingerbread cookies and I didn't have ginger, cloves or molasses. I knew my son would be happy with any cookie that would let him play with shapes, so I made a sugar cookie. I'm not hindered by my lack of ingredients, I'm inspired to create a new dish with what I happen to have on hand. For that, I almost never make the same thing twice, much to my husband's dismay. I will say that after his continuing requests for me to write my down my recipes I have finally relented, thus enabling the recreation of a dish my husband loves with ingredients we tend to keep on hand... 

P.s. In the time I've compose this post, my husband and son have successfully polished of half of the cookies! Good thing I wrote the recipe down ;)