Chapter One shimmering citrus snowflakes No two snowflakes are alike, and the same goes for these citrus-infuse sweets. A simple drinking straw is as fancy a tool as you'll need to give each cookie its one-of-a-kind pattern, making it easy for kids to help. ingredients 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/3 cup shortening 1 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup dairy sour cream 1 egg 2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel (optional) 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lime peel (optional) 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda Dash salt 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour Assorted colors of edible glitter or colored sugar Sifted powdered sugar Prep: 40 minutes Chill: 2 hours Bake: 7 to 8 minutes 1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, sour cream, egg, vanilla, lemon and lime peels (if using), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in as much of the flour as you can. Stir in remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill about 2 hours or until easy to handle. 2. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters or a sharp knife dipped in flour, cut dough into circles, triangles, squares, and/or diamonds. Using straws or aspic or hors d'oeuvre cutters, cut random holes in the cutout shapes so they resemble snowflakes. Use a straw to cut half circles from the edges to flute them. Using a wide spatula, place cookies about 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with edible cake glitter or colored sugar. 3. Bake in a 375° oven for 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool. When cookies are cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes about 40 (2 1/2-inch) cookies. Nutrition facts per cookie: 87 cal., 5 g total fat (2 g sat. fat), 12 mg chol., 44 mg sodium, 11 g carbo., 0 g fiber, 1 g pro. cookies with sparkle Transform plain cookies into sparkling jewels with colored sugar and edible glitter. · Decorate cookies with sugar immediately after rolling and cutting. · Don't waste sugar by piling it on too thickly; only the sugar that touches the cookie dough will bake in place. · To add texture, score the cookies lightly with a table knife. spicy ginger houses Black pepper is the secret ingredient in these sugar-and-spice cookies that make beautiful decorations. Serve them with milk to cool the tongue-tingling sensation they produce. ingredients 3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger or 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 1/2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 egg 1/3 cup molasses 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour Red cinnamon candies or other small candies (optional) 1 recipe Royal Icing (see page 16) or purchased decorator icing (optional) Prep: 50 minutes Chill: 4 to 24 hours Bake: 8 to 10 minutes 1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, ginger, pepper, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and molasses until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. 2. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours or until easy to handle. 3. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper; set aside. 4. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 6x4-inch house-shaped cookie cutter, cut out dough. Cut out small heart-shaped windows from houses, if desired. Cut additional hearts from scraps for decorations. Place house shapes on the prepared cookie sheet about 1 inch apart; place heart cutouts on a separate prepared cookie sheet because they may bake at a rate different from the house shapes. 5. Bake house shapes in a 350° oven about 10 minutes or until tops of cookies appear dry (bake heart shapes about 8 minutes). Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool. 6. When cookies are cool, decorate if desired with heart cutouts, candies, and icing, attaching candies and cutouts with the icing. Makes about 8 (6-inch) cookies. Nutrition facts per 6-inch cookie without icing: 404 cal., 18 g total fat (11 g sat. fat), 73 mg chol., 204 mg sodium, 56 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 5 g pro. black walnut thins Piping the white icing in snowflake shapes atop these rich, nut-studded butter cookies puts on a holiday air. ingredients 1 cup butter, softened 2 3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar 3/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups black walnuts or hazelnuts (filberts), toasted and chopped 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup black walnuts or hazelnuts (filberts), toasted and finely chopped 1 recipe Powdered Sugar Icing Prep: 25 minutes Chill: 2 hours Bake: 8 to l0 minutes {{ 1. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour and the 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts. 2. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill about 2 hours or until dough is easy to handle. 3. In a small bowl combine granulated sugar and the 1/2 cup chopped nuts; set aside. 4. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to about 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch round or fluted cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet; sprinkle with the granulated sugar-nut mixture. 5. Bake in a 350° oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms are just golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool. When cookies are cool, pipe on Powdered Sugar Icing in a snowflake pattern. Makes about 36 (2 1/2-inch) cookies. Powdered Sugar Icing: In a small mixing bowl stir together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and enough milk (2 to 4 teaspoons) to make of piping consistency. Nutrition facts per cookie: 164 cal., 9 g total fat (3 g sat. fat), 20 mg chol., 33 mg sodium, 19 g carbo., 1 g fiber, 3 g pro. green cherry trees Get the big kids in your house rolling and cutting, and let the littler ones decorate these three-dimensional sweet trees. (If they're not gobbled up right away, add them to a gingerbread house display.) ingredients 1 8-ounce jar green maraschino cherries (about 1 cup), well drained and finely chopped 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup butter Green paste food coloring 1 cup white baking pieces 2 teaspoons butter-flavor or regular shortening Small multicolored decorative candies Prep: 45 minutes Chill: 30 minutes to 1 hour Bake: 12 to 14 minutes 1. Place chopped cherries in a fine sieve and squeeze out excess liquid; set aside. 2. In a large mixing bowl stir together flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs and starts to cling. Stir in cherries and a small amount of green paste food coloring. Form mixture into a ball and knead until well combined and nearly smooth. 3. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until easy to handle. 4. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to 1/4- to 3/8-inch thickness. For each tree, cut dough using a 1-inch star cookie cutter (for the treetop) and 4 star cookie cutters that gradually increase in size from 2 1/2 to 4 inches. Place cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. 5. Bake in a 325º oven 12 minutes for smaller stars and 14 minutes for larger stars or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool. 6. In a heavy small saucepan heat white baking pieces and shortening over low heat, stirring frequently, just until melted. 7. To assemble each tree, stack 5 stars, one of each size, with the largest on the bottom and the smallest standing on edge on the top. Spread a little of the melted white baking pieces mixture between cookies as you stack them. Drizzle or pipe melted white baking pieces mixture over each tree. Sprinkle with decorative candies. Makes about 6 cookie trees (depending on cutter sizes). Nutrition facts per half tree: 363 cal., 21 g total fat (13 g sat. fat), 46 mg chol., 171 mg sodium, 41 g carbo., 1 g fiber, 4 g pro. Copyright © 1999 Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, Iowa. All rights reserved.
