Christmas Cookie Bake-Off: Day 1

I'm on a baking kick at the moment and my current exploit is the Christmas cookie. I'm going to try to bake a different cookie everyday either until my butter supply runs out or I just get bored of baking cookies or I become disgusted by the amount of butter that I am using to make the cookies.

Before my first entry, I must point you towards this life-changing article that I read last Christmas, which has since altered my entire world view of butter. It brings me back to a Food, Science and Technology intro course that I took at Davis in order to satisfy my general ed requirement. Remember, E? Anyways, read the article here first, before you even think about baking your own cookies this Christmas. You will thank me.

Raspberry Window Shortbreads

This recipe is from my December issue of Sunset. I guess they turned out pretty well because they've already disappeared. I didn't even have to go to the store to make these. I already had all of the ingredients at home and you probably do too! What I would do differently next time is to roll the dough out a little thinner, maybe use different kinds of fruit preserves just to mix it up a little, and also, make sure you're putting the bottoms of the cookies together. It just looks nicer. Also, I can't find any cookie cutters since our move, so I just used a wine glass and then a wine stopper to make the little cut-out. (You can tell that my most important tools have been unpacked :)

INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Raspberry Preserves (or any other type)
Powdered Sugar
Milk

PREPARATION
1. Put flour, butter, granulated sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until blended, then increase to medium and mix until dough is no longer crumbly and just comes together. Form into a disk, and chill 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 325°. On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough 1/8 in. thick. Use a selection of 1½-in. decorative cutters to cut as many shapes as you can, making sure you have an equal number of each shape to form a top and a bottom, and rerolling scraps as needed.

3. Arrange cookies 1 in. apart on baking sheets. Use a variety of smaller cutters to remove center from half of cookies (the tops). Chill on sheets 15 minutes; then bake until light golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool.

4. Spread each whole cookie with about 1/2 tsp. raspberry preserves. Sprinkle powdered sugar over cut-out cookie tops, or glaze them with a mixture of 1 cup powdered sugar and 21/2 tsp. milk. Set tops on jam-topped bottoms. Makes 26.


Tomorrow's Entry: Gingersnaps