Old Fashion Root Beer Cookies

Being that I was born and raised in Spain, I don’t have a taste for root beer. I think the first time I tasted root beer was in my late teens, several years after coming to the States.

In a recent brand immersion trip as a Zatarain’s 2012 Ambassador, I was given a bottle of their original product: Root Beer extract. I had never heard of root beer extract before nor did I know what to do with it! I don’t drink root beer… so flavoring anything with it was out of my expertise. Then, I had my own epiphany… what if I swapped out the vanilla extract from my favorite sugar cookie recipe and replaced it with the root beer extract?

This sugar cookie recipe is my grandmother’s “plain” cookie recipe. It was her starter for many cookies, I just replaced the vanilla with the RB extract. The “old fashion” is my fancy term for “lazy” since I don’t roll out the dough like traditional sugar cookies (although you can do that) and cut them into your desired shapes. I use a table spoon to scoop out the dough. The result is an edible version of a root beer float. There is no need to wait for the cookies to cool off to eat them. As soon as you get them out of the oven, top them with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and enjoy! I know you’ll thank me later (printer friendly recipe).

  3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter -2 sticks (softened at room temperature)
1 egg, lightly beaten (egg should be at room temperature)
3 Tablespoons half-and-half
2 teaspoons Zatarain’s root beer extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)

2. Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

3. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

4. With a fork, stir in lightly beaten egg, root beer extract and half-and-half. Blend well with fork, then your hands to ensure thorough blending.

5. Chill dough for 15 minutes.

*If you are rolling the dough, chill dough for one hour and then roll and cut into desired shapes.

6.  Scoop out with 1TB spoon and lay on a baking sheet.

7. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until lightly brown.