Butter Cookies
This cookie dough is great for baking with the kids. One dough produces three different cookies, each supper cute and easy to do. Decide whether to make Candy Cane Cookies, Holiday Lollipops or Poinsettias. Or make a little of all three, which is what I did. The dough feels and looks like Play-Doh, but melts in your mouth. Start baking early, freeze your cookies and have a stress free holiday.
Tips:
Gently wet your countertop, then place a piece of plastic wrap on top of it. The water will keep the plastic wrap from moving as you work with the dough.
After the cookies have cooled completely then can be placed in freezer safe baggies and frozen for a few months.
I like to wear rubber gloves when working with food coloring, but it’s up to you.
Dough is very soft. If it’s hard for kids to work with, you can place it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm it up for them.
I used a small ice cream scoop (size #50) to portion out my dough for the Candy Cane Cookies and Holiday Lollipop Cookies.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Butter Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen candy canes and lollipops or 4 dozen poinsettia cookies
PREP 10 minutes
COOK 20 minutes for candy canes and lollipops, 10 minutes for poinsettia cookies
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Red food coloring, gel preferred
Colored sanding sugar, optional
Tools: lollipop sticks and cookie press
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a hand mixer, blend the butter, shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla together.
In a separate bowl combine the flour and salt.
Add the flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until blended.
Remove half of the dough to a bowl and color it with red food coloring. I like the gel food coloring which is brighter and doesn’t water down the dough, but use whatever you have on hand. Make it as bright as you want keeping in mind that it will dull a bit when you bake the cookies.
To make Holiday Lollipop Cookies Take a tablespoon of each dough and roll them separately into 2, 6” long snakes. Place the two snakes side by side and curl them around into a pinwheel. Place on your parchment lined cookie sheet and place a lollipop stick into the dough. Use your hands to round out the cookie dough and flatten the top slightly to be uniform. Continue until all the dough is done or move on to make a different shape. You can place cookies close together since they won’t spread very much. Bake for 20 minutes or until bottom and sides of the cookies are golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet then remove, carefully to a cooling rack.
To make Candy Cane Cookies Take a tablespoon of each dough and roll them separately into 2, 6” long snakes. Place the two snakes side by side on your parchment lined cookie sheet and twist slightly to get a twirl pattern. Bend the top of the cookie dough down to resemble a candy cane. Continue until all the dough is done or move on to make a different shape. Bake for 20 minutes or until bottom and sides of the cookies are golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet then remove, carefully to a cooling rack.
To make Poinsettia Cookies Take 1/2 cup of each cookie dough and place it into the tube of a cookie press fitted with the 5 pointed star disk. On a ungreased cookie sheet, squeeze the trigger of the cookie press, dispensing one cookie at a time onto the sheet. You can place the cookies as close together as the press allows, since they won’t spread. After you have filled up the cookie sheet place a single chocolate chip in the center of the cookie. Continue until all the dough is done or move on to make a different shape. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookies are golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes, then carefully place on a cooling rack.