Violets for Tea

 I love violets

In the house

In the garden

On china

On food

And last week, I had a violet tea

To celebrate adding some garden violets to the garden

For a friend and I

Violets on the table, decorating the tea set and on the food!

Not just violet sugar on the cookies but candied violets as well

Not mine, alas, but boughten ones

That taste faintly of violets

(and they are pricey little violets!)

The tea set is one of Mother's

handpainted violets on four plates, four tea cups and four saucers

Used only for special teas

In the Springtime!

The cookie recipe I got from a board i visit -- it's a good sugar cookie

Soft but not too soft but with a bit of a crunch but not crunchy

And a good keeper as well!

In fact, a tin of them is in the larder

For tea time this week

Alas, not decorated with the candied violet

That was just for company!

ANGEL SUGAR COOKIES

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing glass

1 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for dipping

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

Blue sanding sugar, for sprinkling (about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie)

Purple sanding sugar, for sprinkling (about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie)

(use the color of sugar you desire — including white)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla and eggs. Add the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and mix well. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Using a cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto ungreased, unlined baking sheets. Smear a dab of butter all over the bottom of a glass, then dip the glass in granulated sugar. Use the glass to flatten each ball of dough, dipping again into the sugar each time. Then sprinkle blue sanding sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie) over half of the cookies, and purple sanding sugar over the other half.

Bake until the cookies are just barely turning brown, 9 to 11 minutes. Don't overbrown! Allow to cool before eating. The cookies are ultra crumbly!

Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond

It's Tuesday and i'm joining Sandy at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday and Bernideen for Friends Sharing Tea.