Ingredients
- Dough
- 1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese
- 1 cup (7 ounces) Baker's Special sugar or granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil or 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel*
- 1/2 teaspoon Lorann raspberry flavor
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 cups (10 5/8 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- sparkling sugar (optional)
- Glaze
- 1/4 cup meringue powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon 16-fold butter vanilla flavor powder
- 3 to 4 cups glazing sugar or confectioners' sugar
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup cool water
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon raspberry flavor (optional)
- 1 or 2 drops of gel color (optional)
Preparation
Step 1
*These cookies may be flavored in many different ways. If you don't care for raspberry-lemon, try any of the other interesting flavors and extracts.
For the dough: In a large bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and flavorings, beating till the mixture is well-combined. Add the egg, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour, mixing till the dough is cohesive. Divide the dough in half, wrap each half, and chill for 2 hours.
Working with one half at a time, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut it into your favorite shapes with a cookie cutter. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar (color of your choice), if desired (or ice them after they're baked).
Bake the cookies in a preheated 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they're a very light brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool them completely on a rack. Cookies can be iced with the following glaze, if desired.
For the glaze: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add 1/3 cup of cool water, lemon oil and raspberry flavor. Beat on slow speed for 4 to 5 minutes. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition, until the glaze is the consistency of molasses. Mix in the coloring, if you're using it.
Dip the cooled cookies in the glaze, then sweep a spatula over the top of each cookie to remove the excess. Place them on a wire rack for several hours (or overnight) to let the glaze harden and dry. Yield: about 4 1/2 dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies.