HOLIDAY BUTTER COOKIES

Holiday Butter Cookie from King Arthur

A light, buttery sugar cookie from our friends at King Arthur Flour. The dough is easy to work with and this recipe is a good basic rolled sugar cookie.

kingarthurflour


1 1/4 cups confections sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp salted butter at room temperature
1 large egg yolk*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups King Arthur flour

In a large bowl add the sugar, butter, egg yolk, salt and flavorings and mix until smooth.

Add the flour and continue to mix together. If the dough is dry try adding a very tiny bit of water to the dough. Continue mixing and if more moisture is needed add a very little bit of water until the consistency is correct.

Divide the dough in half, place on plastic wrap and form into a round disk. Wrap in the plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Remove the disk from the refrigerator, allow to set for 20-30 minutes before you start rolling the dough. Keep the other dough cold until ready to use. The dough should always be cold.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper.

On your bread board cover with some flour, and also flour the rolling pin. Roll to about 1/8 to 3/16 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place the cut cookies on parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the edges of the cookies. You may need to rotate your baking sheet during the cooking process. Check often so the cookies don't over bake. Cool on baking sheets for a little while or pull the parchment off the baking sheets and allow to cool before moving them to the cooling rack.

* To top the cookies with sprinkles or colored sugars before baking mix the egg white with 1 tbsp of water. Brush this over the unbaked cookie, sprinkle with the decorative sugars. Then bake as directed. No frosting needed.