Happy New Year!
It's been quite a while since I've posted a new recipe, so here is one of our favorite holiday cookies that can be made all year round. As you can see, I've got tiny holly leaves piped on this batch, but you can do red hearts, green clovers, white bunny faces, red/white/blue firecrackers, or orange pumpkins, etc...depending upon the season.
Surprisingly, the dough has no sugar, except on the outside. These flakey, crispy little rounds melt-in-your-mouth once paired with the lemony buttercream filling.
INGREDIENTS
Dough:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup soft butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
In a separate flat bowl or pie-plate: 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
Mix flour, butter and cream thoroughly until it forms a soft dough. Cover and chill for at least one hour. (This dough freezes well.) When ready to make cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll 1/3 of the dough at a time to 1/8 inch thick on a flour covered pastry cloth (the thinner, the better.) Cut into small circles (1-1/2 inch diameter or so - or use any other small cookie-cutter shape.)
Transfer rounds with spatula to pie-plate filled with granulated sugar. Press onto each side of cookie. Place on ungreased baking sheet. When sheet is filled, prick each cookie four times with the tines of a fork.
Bake 6-8 minutes or until set. Watch carefully as these brown very quickly, although a little golden color is good. Remove from sheet & cool on baking rack. Put cookies together with creamy filling (below) and decorate if desired.
Lemon Buttercream filling:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1-1/2 cup sifted powdered/confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice (more if needed)
Blend together with electric beater until smooth and creamy. Add more lemon juice to thin, or more powdered sugar to thicken. This frosting can be colored with food dye or left pale white.
To pipe design on top of cookie, use a pastry/piping bag with a thin writing tip. Or, use a plastic baggie & fill with approximately 1/4 cup of colored icing, snip a tiny end off one of the corners and pipe design on cookie as desired. [I actually find using a clean white paper envelope works best for me. I seal it and then cut it in half -- fill one half with icing, roll the end closed, and then snip off a corner tip. If it gets too damp after use, then use the other half, if needed.]
The single cookies are VERY fragile, so use care when handling. Once they are paired with the filling, they become alot sturdier. Best eaten within two or three days. Store in a covered container.
