Christmas All Butter Sugar Cookies
Prep time: 1 Hr 10 Min
Cook time: 10 Min
Yield: 4 dozen
Ingreedients:
Dough:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Frosting:
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 pinch salt
1 - 3 tablespoons milk
Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar.
Add in the egg and almond extract. Beat to combine.
Add in the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Beat until thoroughly mixed.
Turn the dough out. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll out to between a 1/8 - 1/4" thickness. I use the silicone rolling pin guides; they look like thick rubber bands.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use a floured cookie cutter of your choice to cut out the cookies. Reroll the excess.
Transfer the shapes to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Leave 1 - 2" between the cookies. They don’t spread, but they will cook more evenly this way.
Bake for 8-12 minutes, depending on how you like your cookies. I prefer mine somewhat crisp (they will soften a tad after being decorated), so I bake mine until they are not colored much on top but the bottoms are golden.
Allow to sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Then remove to a cooling rack.
To make the frosting, beat the butter, almond extract, salt, and 1 Tbsp milk until combined.
Add all the powdered sugar.
Add more milk as needed, 1 tsp at a time until you get a good piping consistency. You can adjust as needed adding more powdered sugar or milk. I tinted mine lightly with Wilton cornflower blue gel colors.
Use a 12" decorating bag and a #3 round decorating tip to pipe the lines on the snowflake. I piped straight from tip to tip first. Then place a dot in the center, at the intersection of the lines. Then begin making the side lines to each arm of your snowflake. After piping the snowflake, I gently turn it over in a small shallow bowl of white sparkling sugar to give it a light sparkle.
Allow to dry/harden on a sheet pan.
Pack in an airtight container, stacked with wax paper between layers. Cookies stay fresh for several days at room temperature. You can bake the cookies ahead and freeze them undecorated in airtight containers. Then decorate when desired. No need to defrost, you can begin decorating frozen cookies. Just be sure to leave the container open as cookies come to room temperature, so they don’t create condensation in the container.
Recipe courtesy of Just A Pinch.com
