Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground mace or nutmeg
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- royal icing;
- 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp strained lemon juice
- food coloring(optional)
Preparation
Step 1
stir together flour, baking powder and mace to combine thoroughly;set aside.
In mixer bowl, combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy. blend in vanilla. add egg and beat again until fluffy. gradually add flour mixture, beating until just well-combined. enclose dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm( 1 to 2 hours or overnight)
preheat oven to 325 degrees. work with about half of the dough at a time, keeping remainder well-wrapped and refrigerated. on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth, roll out dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. cut with cookie cutters into rounds, hearts or other desired shapes. carefully transfer to lightly greased baking sheets. sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
bake until cookies are golden brown(10-12 minutes) let stand for about 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool. makes approximately 30(2-3 inch) rounds or hearts.
royal icing;in a small bowl, combine 3/4 of the sugar with egg white and lemon juice. beat until thick and white(approximately 10 minutes). add remaining sugar, beat until stiff. if desired, add coloring, stirring gently to blend. makes approximately 3/4 cup.