Ingredients
- For the icing:
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon clove
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed
- 1 pound confectioners' sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- Food coloring, if desired
Preparation
Step 1
1. In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter, add the sugars a little at a time and beat the mixture until it is just light and fluffy. Do not overbeat. Add the eggs one at a time. Into a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and enough of the cream to form a dough. Divide the dough in half, form each half into a ball and transfer each ball to a sheet of waxed paper. Pat each ball into a i/z-Inch thick disk and wrap in waxed paper. Chill for 2 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 3500 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Let chilled dough soften at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it can be rolled. Roll out the dough between sheets of lightly floured waxed paper to a little more than l/8-inch thick, and with desired cookie cutters dipped in flour, cut out shapes and arrange 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Cool cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes and transfer to racks to cool completely.
Make the icing:
3. In a bowl with an electric mixer, combine the confectioners' sugar and egg whites and beat on low speed until sugar is completely moistened. Increase speed to high and beat for 5 minutes, or until icing forms stiff peaks. Color icing if desired. Transfer to pastry bags fitted with small plain tips and decorate the cookies. Cookies may be stored in airtight containers
with layers of waxed paper in between for up to 2 weeks. Yield: about 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on size of cookie cutters.