Rootbeer Cookies... Recipe
Speaking of sippin'...When my sister and her girls were here, we had ourselves a Rootbeer taste test. We went to The Rootbeer Store (Redmond, Washington) and purchased 13 different Rootbeers (they must have over a thousand different Rootbeers!) and with high expectations we sat around the table and sampled a little bit of each one - giving a thumbs up, or thumbs down with each sip. Only a few of the Rootbeers were, how shall I say this...less than desirable? Not good? Okay, down right disgusting, as in we spit them out as fast as we could! I cannot recommend the Peanut Butter Rootbeer!!
Even though we only had about a tablespoon of each different Rootbeer, by the time we were done we were all a bit Rootbeer-ed out!! We took the half-full bottles to our neighbors so they could conduct their own taste test - you should have seen the look on their faces when we showed up to give them our opened bottles of Rootbeer...took a bit of explaining! I can tell you which one we liked - hands down - no contest - Dad's Rootbeer!! A&W was a close second!! The designer Rootbeers were good, but either they were too molasses-y or too ginger-y or too, too, too, um, gross, for our rather pure-Rootbeer palettes. It was very fun though, and the next time my sister and her girls come to visit we will conduct another taste test...and we'll have plenty of Dad's on hand to wash the rest down! (Notice my little Elsa in the background? Love that little face!)
I come from a long line of Rootbeer lovin' people and not only do we like to drink that sweet brown elixir, but we like to eat it as well! Everything from Rootbeer Pie to Rootbeer Float Fudge to Rootbeer Baked Beans to Rootbeer Braised Short Ribs and everything in between - we love our Rootbeer. So Rootbeer Cookies were a no brainer...and these cookies are almost as good as sippin' on a nice cold one!
Rootbeer Extract is a must - it's what gives these cookies and their frosting the crazy-good Rootbeer flavor. (Using regular old Rootbeer will not work, so don't even think about it - you need the extract!) After the cookies are baked you can either frost them, which I did, or you can use them to make Rootbeer ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream - so dang good - like a Rootbeer float in every bite! We were fresh out of vanilla ice cream however, and I didn't think the stale orange sherbet we had in the freezer would taste good!
Rootbeer Cookies - Pots and Pins
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons half-n-half
- 3 teaspoons Rootbeer extract
- Frosting:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons Rootbeer extract
- 2 tablespoons hot water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until butter is light in color, about 4 minutes. Add egg, half-n-half and extract and to butter mixture, mix until blended. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat just until incorporated. Using a cookie scoop or a large spoon, scoop out about a golf-ball size portion of dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. Using your fingers, flatten dough ball to about 1/2-inch thick. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, being careful not to over-bake. Cookies should be lightly browned but still soft on top. Remove to cooling rack to cool. While cookies cool, make frosting. Frost when completely cool. Makes about 24 cookies. Keep cookies in an air-tight container.
Rootbeer Fun Facts from Mobile Cuisine:
Rootbeer is made out of 16 Roots, and herbs.
The most original ingredient was Sassafras. It comes in an alcoholic drink also.
Rootbeer accounts for 3 percent of America’s Soft Drink Market.
In 1960 a key ingredient (the sassafras root) came to be known as a carcinogen and its use was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The A and W in A&W stands for Alan and Wright.
Roy Allen would team up with Frank Wright in 1922.
A&W is the number one selling brand of rootbeer in America.
AND here's a little heads up for you...August 6th is National Rootbeer Day!!!