I had a bee in my bonnet to make small sandwich cookies ala Two Tarts, an amazing cookie shop here in Portland specializing in tiny cookies to die for. I used the basic sugar cookie recipe from The Craft of Baking in both plain and chocolate and then made a batch of cream cheese frosting and a batch of chocolate frosting (super easy, chocolate ganache melted and added to the cream cheese frosting) and they are excellent and gave me a terrible sugar headache.
I started these by myself, the cookie dough and the cutting that is, but then a little creature wanted to help with the frosting and sandwich-making part. I have been doing some fussy baking without them and have stopped feeling guilty about it because sometimes I just want to bake and have it turn out perfect and not be interrupted by the craziness—running with kittens, bathroom emergencies, lost socks, falls and bumps, imperative ballet outfit changes, lost toys, all the things that come up the second I try to focus on anything. Especially if it involves heat and a timer. It's all good if I know they are going to help me, my expectations are wildly different and I just let them have at it, but sometimes I need to just have a project be my thing.
The middle child, the one most interested in cooking, snuck into the kitchen early and was excited to find me finishing these. She frosted, and made a bit of a mess, pressed too hard on the cookies, put the tops on wrong side up, and was so happy, proud, and she thought it was so clever that we could make two frostings out of one batch. She was having so much fun with everyone else asleep while she was doing her secret cookie fairy work. I let my lofty goals go—I had visions of dainty picture-perfect delicate cookie sandwiches and these, while still quite sweet, have a more down to earth look.
She finished up, and I was so happy I bit my tongue about 10 times to not mention various messy/crazy bits and then she smiled and asked if we were done. Yup. Are you going to photograph them, she asked hopefully? Yup, they are beautiful.
