Original Swig Cookies (but kinda slightly better)

 A few of you may have already seen this on my instagram, but always intended to share it with you here.Dear self,I want you to remember something.I want you to remember that you held your babies close any chance you got.I want you to remember that sometimes you gave your little ones green smoothies for breakfast and sometimes you gave them chocolate cake and both are totally okay.I want you to remember that you never ever felt like motherhood was sacrificing your dream. They ARE the dream.I never want you to second guess or doubt that you gave life everything you had - for your people and for yourself.I want you to remember that you loved yourself, even if it meant eating breakfast at 2pm and staying up late to finally meditate or holding in your pee so long you may have peed your pants a little.I want you to remember that you kept noses and butts clean. You fed, and kept them laughing and loving. You taught them to say thank you. You taught them to love peas.You taught them it’s always appropriate to dance and sing out loud.I don’t ever want you to look back on these early days of motherhood and wish you did it all differently. I want you to know you did the best job you could have done.You nurtured these little ones to be their best selves the same way you nurture yourself.You loved. You lived. You worked hard, you dreamed hard and you never compromised your time spent.I want you to know you’re more than enough. You’re brilliant.Dear self, I love you. You’re doing (and did) an incredible job.Love,Me.    Wrote myself a love letter this week because I was feeling overwhelmed with how fast time goes. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was feeding my baby boy pureed greens and giggling at the mess? Now my boy says full sentences and has opinions about greens. My daughter is already smiling and wasn't she just a koala lump of love I brought home from the hospital just yesterday?Sometimes I feel guilty for doing or accomplishing anything else other than taking care of my children....and believe me, they take up 150,000% of my time right now, but still, I think it's a woman thing. Maybe we always feel like we can never quite do enough for our babies.I know that balance is something we all strive for and never feel like it's quite accomplished.Motherhood is a beautiful mess.  Being a mother trying to run your own business is a beautiful mess.Wherever you are in life, take the time to write yourself a love note this week. You deserve to pause and say, "Hey! You're doing so much better than you give yourself credit for." You’ll thank yourself one day.So much love for you. xo  

Original Swig Cookies (but kinda slightly better)

There’s this little drive through soda stand in Saint George Utah that sells flavored drinks and cookies called "Swig". Usually, the cookies are served cold and for some reason, that makes them a little more magical. These cookies are incredibly similar to the original Swig cookie, but I think my version is a little better. (Shhh don't tell). These are a great cookie to share and will forever remind me of warm road trips to visit loved ones and the mountains. 

cookies:

• 1 cup / 227g salted butter, room temperature ((if you don’t have salted, unsalted is totally fine!))
• ¾ cup / 177ml sunflower oil or melted coconut oil
• 1 ¼ cup / 250g sugar
• ¾ cup / 90g powdered / confectioners sugar
• 2 large eggs, preferably organic
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons water or whole milk
• 5 ½ cups / 687g all purpose flour, preferably organic
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon sea salt (make this 1 teaspoon if using unsalted butter)
• extra sugar for baking cookies

frosting:

• ½ cup / 113g salted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup / 180g full fat sour cream, room temperature
• 4 cups / 480g powdered / confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• tiny pinch of fine sea salt / to taste
• red or pink dye, optional

for the cookies:

1. In a large standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together butter, oil and sugars. Beat until combined.

2. Add eggs, water, vanilla and lemon juice - if you’re not using cream of tartar - beat together until combined.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar - if you have it.

4. With the mixer on low speed slowly add the dry ingredients until well combined. Take care not to over mix, and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl a few times with a spatula ensuring it’s all combined.

5. Chill the dough, tightly wrapped and covered for a few hours, preferably overnight.

6. If you don’t want to chill your dough or don’t have time, don’t sweat it, they’ll still be delicious, just watch them carefully so they don’t over bake.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

8. Form the dough into dough balls about the size of a golf ball (or weighing 50-53g - you can of course make them bigger than this, but keep in mind they’ll need to bake longer) and roll them in sugar.

9. Press each dough ball slightly down with the heel of your hand.

10. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies seem baked but not browned at all. (Remember we’re shooting for slightly under done here. tip! Cookies will slightly poof up when they’re done.)

11. While cookies are still hot, press each one down with the bottom of a drinking glass creating an indentation and making the cookies crack slightly. This indentation will be where the frosting goes.

12. Let cookies cool completely before frosting. 

for the frosting:

1. Drain the excess liquid from the sour cream. I find this is easier / more liquid drains off when it's room temperature.

2. In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat together butter and powdered sugar for a few minutes. Sugar and butter won't totally come together, but beating them together helps.

3. Add vanilla, lemon and sour cream. (If you're adding dye, add a few drops now). 

4. Take care not to over whip the frosting, if you over whip it, it can separate.

5. Make sure cookies are cooled before frosting.

bakers notes: I have a few suggestions for you to make these the best soft sugar cookies you could possibly have.

I find it easiest to make these perfectly slightly undercooked when you chill the dough first before baking them.

If you don’t have cream of tartar, a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice does the trick for the cookie dough just fine.

The sour cream and butter HAVE to be at room temperature for the frosting to work. Otherwise the sour cream and butter won't blend properly and you’ll be bummed.

You don’t have to use salted butter but I find that using salted butter helps cut through the sweetness of the cookie. I really like it and highly suggest it.