Painted Egg Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet with shortening or spray with cooking spray. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface, roll each half 3/16 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. On cookie sheet, place cookies about 2 inches apart.
• In small bowl, mix egg yolk and water. Divide mixture among several small custard cups. Tint each with a different food color to make bright colors. (If paint thickens while standing, stir in a few drops of water.) Paint designs on cookies with small paintbrushes. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack; cool.

Steps:

• For the cookies: Cream the granulated sugar, shortening, vanilla and orange zest thoroughly. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add the milk and mix. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt, and then blend into the sugar mixture.
• Divide the dough in half, slightly flatten between two sheets of waxed paper and refrigerate, about 1 hour (or freeze for 20 minutes).
• For the egg yolk glaze: While dough is chilling, separate the eggs, reserving the whites and placing each yolk into an individual small bowl. Add 4 teaspoons water and different food coloring to each yolk and combine to make the egg yolk glaze.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Carefully cut around hands using a dull knife.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Transfer the hand cookies to a lightly greased cookie sheet and paint the cookies (with a soft brush) with the egg yolk glazes.
• Bake the cookies, about 6 minutes. Do not allow the cookies to brown.
• Transfer the cookies from the oven to a wire rack to cool.
• While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting: Simply combine the powdered sugar, butter, heavy cream and vanilla in a food mixer until light and fluffy. If you like you can put the frosting in disposable piping bags to make decorating easier. Decorate the cookies with the frosting and any edible decorations, jewels, disco dust, sanding sugar you like.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until light. In a small bowl, stir the soda, salt and flour together. Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed ingredients until well mixed. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough in half. Wrap half in plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut cookies with a cookie cutter of any design and place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
• Put 1 teaspoon corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon water into each of 4 different custard cups. Tint each of the four mixtures with food coloring. Stir each well.
• Paint the unbaked cookies before baking using a small paintbrush. For more fun, press cookie dough through a garlic press to make "hair" for gingerbread figures.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Remove the cookies with a spatula and cool on wire rack.