Painted Holiday Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (room temperature) 1 cup sugar 1 lg. egg 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract About 3 cups of all-purpose flour 1 lg. egg yolk Food coloring (4 choices)
Directions:
Cut butter into chunks and put in a large bowl; add sugar. Beat with a mixer to blend, then beat on high speed until mixture is fluffy. Add whole eggs and vanilla, and beat to mix thoroughly. Add 3 cups of flour and best on low speed until dough is well mixed. Divide dough in half, shape into ballots and flatten each into a round cake. If desired, wrap dough airtight and chill up to 1 day.
One portion at a time, roll out dough on a floured board to 1/4inch thick. With flour-dusted cookie cutters (2 to 3 inches wide), cut out cookies. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to baking sheets, spacing them at least 1 inch apart. To make pattern on cookies, if desired, make impressions with a flour-dusted spoon tip or fork tines. Gently brush flour off cookies.
Mix egg yolk with 1/2 tsp of water to blend. Divide mixture among 4 small bowls. Tint contents of each bowls with a different food coloring, mixing a drop at a time to get desired intensity. Using small brushes, paint surface of cookies with colored mixtures.
Bake in a 325 degree oven until cookies are golden on the bottom, about 16 minutes (if using one oven, alternate pan positions after 8 minutes.) Cool on pan about 5 minutes, then transfer with a wide spatula to racks to cool.
Serve, or store in airtight contained for up to 5 days, Free to store longer.
Note: This is a great alternative to messy frosted or sprinkled cookies. Kids love to paint the cookies and they turn out so pretty.
Source: “Thyme and Traditions” St. Mary cookbook
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Sand Tarts
Ingredients:
1 cup butter 2 cups of sugar 3 cups of flour Two eggs leaving out the white of one
Directions:
Roll out thin and cut in square cakes with a knife; spread the while of egg on top, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and press a blanched almond or raisin in the center.
Source: Centennial Buckeye Cook Book
