Birthday Baking

Saturday night I went to a friend's birthday party at a rented social club. The birthday girl is not interested in presents - not store-bought ones, anyway. She is asking party guests that if they do bring a gift, to let it me something homemade. So baking it is! I'm a big fan of Florida Crystals Natural Can Sugar. In fact, I have totally switched from using granulated sugar to using this type both for personal health and environmental reasons. On the back of the sugar bag, I found the following recipe, which sounds like a tasty treat for a late August summer snack.

What You Need:

• 1 cup butter, room temp (I used soy margarine)
  
• 1 cup Florida Crystals
• 2-1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp lemon extract (I found that it could use a little more lemon flavor. Maybe 2 tsp?)
  

Optional Lemon Icing

• 1 cup 10x powdered sugar
• 1-1/2 tbs lemon juice
• Grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 drop yellow food coloring (optional)

What You Do:

• Cream the butter and Florida Crystals until smooth.
• Add the flour, sour cream, baking soda and lemon extract and blend until smooth.
  
• Divide the dough in half and place each half on a piece of wax paper. Roll each section into a 2-inch log and freeze until firm.
• Remove 1 log at a time, slice dough into 1/8 inch slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheet
• Bake at 350 until edges are golden brown.
  
• Cool and drizzle with icing, if you choose.