Three In One Cookie Stacks Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the egg yolks, vanilla and orange zest mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• For rolled cookies: Roll about a tablespoon of dough by hand into a ball. Dip 1 side of the balls into some coarse sugar and place them sugar-side-up on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving about 1-inch between cookies.
• For sliced cookies: Divide dough in half, roll by hand into 2-inch-wide logs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Cut the logs into 1/4-inch-thick cookies and place them on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies.
• For cutout cookies: Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Roll dough between lightly floured parchment, or waxed paper, until about 1/3-inch thick. Transfer sheets to a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter, place them on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. (Gather the dough scraps together, pat into a disk, chill and reroll.)
• Refrigerate cookies while preheating the oven to 375 degrees F, for at least 30 minutes.
• Bake the cookies, until the bottoms are golden, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on shape. Cool on sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired and serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
• Combine all the ingredients, except the food coloring, in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix slowly until stiff enough to form peaks. The icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. If the frosting is overbeaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.
• Alternatively, combine ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with hand beaters on low speed until the frosting thickens to stiff peaks.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. (Adding too much color reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days.) Store icing, covered, with plastic film on the surface of the icing.
• Yield: 1 pound royal icing (1 2/3 cup)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, mix 1 cup sugar, the butter, vanilla and egg with spoon. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Divide dough into thirds.
• Mix coconut extract and coconut into one third of dough. Mix almond extract, red food color and cherries into another third of dough. Stir cocoa and miniature chocolate chips into last third of dough.
• Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into 1-inch balls with floured hands. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each with greased bottom of glass dipped in additional sugar.
• Bake cookies 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are set. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl. Cream using an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into the butter mixture and mix to combine. Shape dough into a ball, cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick. Cut out different-sized stars with cookie cutters; the height of the Christmas tree will depend on the number of cookies you stack, but you need at least 7 or 8 stars. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer cookies carefully onto wire racks and cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and water in a bowl and beat at low speed using an electric blender until peaks form, 7 to 10 minutes. Pour icing into a piping bag with a star-shaped tip.
• Place the largest star onto a plate and pipe a little bit of royal icing into the middle. Add the second-largest star on top, turning the star slightly so the points are offset from the previous star cookie. Repeat adding smaller-sized star cookies and attaching them with royal icing. Decorate the cookie Christmas tree with royal icing, silver balls, and other holiday decor. Roll out yellow fondant and cut out a small star to place on top of the cookie tree and secure with royal icing. Decorate remaining cookies to your liking.
• Dust the finished tree with confectioners' sugar.