Hanukkah Frosted Cookie Cutouts Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and extract. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, 2 hours., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in. cookie cutters. Place cutouts 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake until set (do not brown), 10-12 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. For frosting, in a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, water and meringue powder; beat on low speed just until combined. Beat on high 4 minutes or until soft peaks form. Cover frosting with damp paper towels between uses., Pipe icing on cookies as desired. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. In large bowl, mix 1/3 cup powdered sugar, the butter, honey, 1 teaspoon almond extract and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until well blended.
• On lightly floured, cloth-covered surface, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.
• Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• For almond glaze, in medium bowl, mix 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until spreadable.
• For blue frosting, in another medium bowl, mix 1 cup powdered sugar and enough water to make frosting that can be easily drizzled or used in a decorating bag yet hold its shape. Stir in 3 or 4 drops food color.
• Spread almond glaze over cookies. Decorate with blue frosting.

Steps:

• 1. To make the dough: Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then lightly whisk and set aside.2. In a stand mixer set on low speed, beat the butter until creamy, about 30 seconds. On medium speed, beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well blended, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla until blended. Add half of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, then the remaining flour, beating until it is combined and forms a dough.3. Using lightly floured hands, gather the sticky dough into a ball. Divide the ball in half and flatten each into a 6- to 8-inch disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or until firm.4. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or leave ungreased, and set aside. 5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and, if needed, soften slightly for easier handling. Roll the dough out 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured board, between 2 sheets of parchment paper or heavy-duty plastic wrap, or on a pastry cloth with a cloth-covered rolling pin. 6. Lightly dip a 3- or 31/2-inch Hanukkah-themed cookie cutter in flour, then firmly press it straight down into the dough. Repeat, cutting the cookies close together to avoid rerolling. Using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to the baking sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart.7. Bake until golden, about 14 minutes. Cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.8. To make the icing: In a medium bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, and lemon extract until blended. It will be lumpy. Stir in the milk until it reaches a spreading consistency. If desired, divide the icing in half and add blue food coloring to one half, mixing until the color is uniform. Using a small spatula, spread the blue icing over the cooled cookies. Place the white icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe designs, or spread the white icing over the cooled cookies and decorate as desired.Note: Baker's or superfine sugar is available in supermarket baking sections. For a quick substitute, whirl 1 cup of granulated sugar at a time in a food processor or blender until fine, about 20 seconds.VariationAdd glitter to your Hanukkah table with Razzle-Dazzle Dreidels. Follow the main recipe, using a dreidel cookie cutter. Before baking, use a clean watercolor brush to paint the cookies with an egg-white wash (1 egg white lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water). Cover the painted areas with blue-colored sugar. Continue as directed.From Holiday Baking. Text copyright © 2005 by Sara Perry. Photographs copyright © 2005 by Leigh Beisch. All rights reserved. First published by Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, California.

Steps:

• For cookies:
• Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in large bowl until light. Beat in egg, lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Add to butter mixture and stir until well combined. Divide dough into 3 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each in plastic and chill 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out 1 dough piece on lightly floured surface to thickness of 1/8 inch. Using Hanukkah cookie cutters dipped into flour, cut out cookies. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheets, spacing evenly. Gather scraps, reroll and cut out additional cookies, chilling dough if necessary. Bake until cookie edges are golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool. Repeat rolling, cutting and baking with remaining dough pieces in batches.
• For icing
• Place sugar in bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons milk and lemon juice. Add more milk if icing is too thick to pipe. Transfer half of icing to another bowl. Mix food coloring into half of icing.
• Spoon plain and colored icings into separate pastry bags fitted with small round tips or into parchment cones. Pipe icings decoratively onto cookies. Let stand until icing sets, about 2 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store cookies in single layers in airtight containers.)

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in one egg yolk until completely incorporated. Beat in the other egg yolk along with the orange juice and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into desired holiday shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.