Melissa “Marsh” Megliola ’02 designs, bakes and decorates nearly 3,000 custom cookies each year for customers. At Sweet Treats by Melissa, “Every order is unique, and it’s just based on the person ordering it,” she says. “There really isn’t any monotony to it, and I like that.”
Orders have grown from a handful her first year to thousands of cookies annually for customers, in all shapes, for many occasions. December is still her peak season, though her cookies are also popular throughout the year at children’s birthday parties and baby showers in the Denver area.
“Every order is unique, and it’s just based on the person ordering it,” Megliola says. “There really isn’t any monotony to it, and I like that.”
Megliola shares a recipe for sugar cookies, tested to be tasty every time.
Start your homemade cookies with this recipe, shared by Melissa.
Basic Sugar Cookie Recpie
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, softened to room temp
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract (or almond or lemon extract)
- 3 cups Flour
- 1½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy.
- Add in egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, lightly mixing between each addition until flour in completely incorporated.
- Roll into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and chill for 1-2 hours.(Do not skip this step!!)
- Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough out evenly with a lightly floured roller onto a lightly floured flat surface until it’s a ¼ inch thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes
