Many of you have tasted some of the yummy treats Daria has been cooking along the way. She is always the first to grab the cookbook when someone mentions they need a sweet. One day while on a walk through the historic district of Fernandina Beach, she spied a bookstore and immediately went in. “I want to find a book” she said. Great, I thought. It’s every parents dream to get their kids reading and we have had a tough time finding books she likes, so of course, I encouraged her to look around. When I came back from my coffee, I found her seated on a bench, deeply engrossed in a book with three more on her lap. Great! She found something I thought, only to notice upon closer inspection, that they were all dessert cookbooks! So, to cut a long story short, we made it out of the store with a cookbook plus two other short novels after some gentle prodding or maybe bargaining was a better word.

The end result has been some delicious treats for all of us onboard. The cookies featured here were inspired by some she saw in her book. Of course, we didn’t have cookie cutters, a rolling pin, or sprinkles on board, but that did not deter her. She improvised with a coffee cup for shaping, a Kleen Kanteen water bottle as a rolling pin, and melted chocolate for the piping. She is a great improviser! So read on and I hope you have as much fun creating something as delicious as she did.

Daria’s Sugar Cookies (cookie recipe found on the website Epicurious)
For the cookies:
2.5 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1.5 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cups of sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla

For the icing and piping:
3-4 Tbsp. confectioners sugar
1-2 tsp. lemon juice
4-5 squares of baking chocolate
1 Tbsp. butter

Directions:
– Mix Flour and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
– Beat the butter and sugar with the mixer till pale and fluffy.
– Beat in egg and vanilla.
– Add flour mix to butter mixture and blend the ingredients until they come together into a soft dough.
– Turn dough into two balls and flatten to disks. Wrap each dough disk in parchment paper, place into plastic ziplock bag and refrigerate till firm (at least one hour). You can also store the dough for a few days like this if you don’t have time to cook them.
– When ready, turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll out for cutting into whatever shapes you desire.
– Place dough onto a parchment lined cookie tray and cook for 10-12 minutes. You can also decorate them with sprinkles before cooking if you won’t be using the icing afterwards.
– Allow the cookies to cool and start making the icing.
– In a small bowl combine the confectioners sugar and lemon to form a thick, but still runny mixture.
– spoon directly onto cooled shapes and allow the glaze to harden.
– Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and butter together and put into piping bag.
– When the glaze has dried, pipe out whatever decorations you like on the cookies and now you have a tasty treat to go along with your afternoon tea! Enjoy!! Thanks Daria!!!