It’s been almost a year that our city, The City Beautiful, was attacked and we saw how one disturbed individual could forever scar and destroy the lives of dozens of innocent people in a matter of minutes. But through the clouds of despair we saw something else. A beautiful city with a diverse populace coming together to donate blood, care of the wounded, grieve the lost and to give hugs to strangers who needed them. A community that, at its time of crisis stood stronger together than ever before. And these are the people that I am proud to call my family, friends and neighbors.

Join me tomorrow at Williams-Sonoma, Mall at The Millenia as we honor those 49 beautiful souls and stand together as a community for Monday’s#OrlandoUnitedDay. I’ll be sharing some of my sweetest creations, including these Pride Cookies. I encourage you to make these cookies as well, and share the sweetness with your family, friends, and neighbors.

Prep Time

45 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hour and 15 minutes

Cookies

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ¹⁄₂cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar

¹⁄₄ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

food coloring, the colors of the rainbow!

1. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or generously spray with non stick spray.
2. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add slowly to butter mixture on low speed. Do not overbeat! Only mix until flour is incorporated.
4. Form dough into big ball and place in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter or you can use a pizza cutter and make squares or rectangles. Another option is to roll into a log and cut 1/4 inch thick slices.
6. Using a spatula, transfer to cookie sheets leaving about 1/2 inch between cookies.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool 10 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling rack.
8. When cookies are cool, whisk together the icing ingredients and either dip the cookies or spread on cookies. You can smooth the icing with the back of a spoon.