Holiday Cookies (Sugar Cookies)

Description

These are nice served on a large platter along with our Chocolate Mocha Rum Balls, Maple Praline Shortbread Cookies, Maple Cappuccino Roll-up Cookies and Thumbprint Cookies.

Makes approximately 40 cookies (that’s 40 tops and 40 bottoms, with additional small cut outs)

Printable Recipe

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups	Butter – unsalted, room temprature
1 Cup	Sugar – white, granulated
1 tsp	Salt
4 large	Egg yolks – room temperature
2 tsp	Lemon zest – finely grated
1 tsp	Vanilla – pure extract
3 Cups	Flour – all purpose
For decoration	Silver or gold dragees – available in baking supply stores
1 250ml jar	Sun Dried Cherry Sauce
2 tsp	Arrowroot flour or cornstarch

 

Instructions

1. In an electric mixer, on high speed, beat the butter, sugar and salt until they are creamy. At this point add the egg yolks – one at a time – then the lemon zest and vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour 1 cup at a time, until it is just combined. It is important not to over beat the mixture once the flour is added because over beating will result in tough cookies. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and flatten them into smooth discs. Wrap each separately in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Place the discs in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight. If desired, the discs of raw dough can be frozen for up to one month.

2. Remove the disc from the refrigerator and let stand until it reaches room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is 1/8” thick. Using different sizes of cookie cutters, cut the dough into desired shapes such as the large and small stars shown in our photograph. Use the smaller cookie cutter to cut the shapes out of the cookies intended for the top layer. Decorate the top layer cookies with silver or gold dragée. With a flexible spatula, transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are a pale yellow. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat this process with the remaining discs.

3. To thicken the Sun Dried Cherry sauce, add the arrowroot flour or cornstarch to the Sun Dried Cherry sauce. Bring to a boil in a saucepan and cook until mixture thickens slightly. Pour the mixture into a jar or bowl. Set aside until ready to use. Refrigerate if the mixture won’t be used within 3 hours.

4. Spread a teaspoon of thickened Sun Dried Cherry Sauce on each of the solid cookies, and top each with a decorated cookie. These can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in an air tight container. (The cookies without jam can be made up to 1 month ahead of time and the jam can be applied before serving.)