Constructing the Christmas Cookie

I'm "debuting" this Christmas cookie recipe here on the blog first, as opposed to piling it into the recipe list mainly because I feel recipes like this need a little dialog to produce success. I found this out after years of trying to use "cookbook" recipes that have all the right ingredients, but offer too few "hints" on how the best results are achieved. My aunt Anita is the world's best at giving dialog to accompany her recipes... they may not always fit "style" for a magazine publisher, but by golly... when she tells you now to cook it, it comes out right. And I like that. Period.

So... here's my friend Gretchen's cookie recipe. It's a very basic cookie & icing recipe pulled from a cookbook source, I'm sure. But she offers tips (which I will also offer here) that really help round this out to work well, time-and-time again.

3 cups all-purpose flour (be sure not to use a soft wheat, like White Lily for this)

1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder (not soda, or the cookies will be "puffy")

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla (I actually deviate from this and use 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract. LUV it.)

1 cup butter (no margarine... IMO it's not the same)

1 cup sugar

Beat butter & sugar til white & creamy (Gretchen does this for about 10-15 minutes... and now so do I). Add your wet ingredients. Sift together dry ingredients and add to mixture slowly. Chill in rounds for 2 hours (another important step. Warm dough is hard to roll out and even harder to transfer to cookie sheet once cut.)

When you're ready to roll these out, roll out on a surface dusted with powdered sugar (big tip here thanks to Gretchen... whereas many recipes call for rolling on flour, that simply builds up gluten, which = tough cookies.)

Cut into desired shapes, transfer to cookie sheet (I actually have found that I have to "grease" my cookie sheets, which are supposed to be nonstick... so you may have to as well.)

Then chill on sheets in 'fridge at least 1 hour (another important step. Otherwise, I found they spread too much and brown a bit more than I like.)

Bake at 375 for 4 minutes, then turn/rotate your cookie sheet. Bake an additional 4 to 5 minutes.

Icing:

1 (16-ounce package) powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
5-6 tablespoons warm water (I seem to always need more?)
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat at med-low speed 5 to 7 minutes. Divide and tint, as desired (and a tip from my Aunt Anita... look for powder or at least gel food colorings... otherwise, your icing tends to "bleed" it's color).

**Now here's where I've had the most trouble over the years perfecting "pretty" cookies. Most recipes end here. What they don't tell you is that you use the aforementioned (which is basically Royal Icing) for piping out lines, decorations, etc. It's a rather stiff, firm icing... suitable for piping. But I always wanted the "filled" cookies that were iced all over. A smart person probably could figure this out, but I didn't ;-) ... so I'm sharing with you. Once you've outlined your cookies, if you want to "fill" in the tops, you simply add more warm water until the icing "runs". Then you can easily use a spoon (or a ziploc bag with a small cut in the tip works great) to flood/run the icing over the top of the cookie. Works like a charm.

Let your cookies dry and you're done.

Oh... and another Aunt Anita tip. Make it easy on yourself. Opt for mostly white designs. It's elegant, attractive and a lot less work with less tinting.

Merry Christmas!