Christmas Shortbread Cookies

I love these! I’ve made three batches because I intend to give them as gifts, but my family keeps eating them! They’re simple (they do take some time due to chilling, cooling, and letting the glaze set, but hands-on time isn’t ridiculous for scratch-made iced cookies) and they come out gorgeous – they definitely look and taste like they’ve been purchased from a professional (I make sure to make some of the Christmas trees a little crooked once in a while, just to make it convincing that I really did make them myself!) They stay soft for DAYS, the longest any of them lasted was five days and they were still just as light and airy as the day I made them.
My only advice for people trying it out for the first time is to chill the dough a little bit before you try to roll it. My butter must have been too soft the first batch I tried, the dough kept sticking to my rolling mat no matter how much I floured it, and every time I cut a cookie and tried to lift it, it got smushed or torn in half. With my next batch, I let the dough ball chill for a bit (maybe half an hour) until it was slightly firm but still workable and I didn’t have a problem at all. (On the third batch I ended up leaving it in the refrigerator for too long, but working it with my hands a bit warmed it up enough to roll out without getting sticky again.


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<<Christmas Lasagna>>

Ingredients
US Customary - Metric
For the buttercream piping:

• 1 tablespoon very soft butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2-2 tablespoons half and half (or milk)
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3-4 drops green food coloring

For the cookies:

• 8 ounces butter 2 sticks
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cornstarch

For the mint glaze;

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons half and half (or milk) maybe more
• 1/4-1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Instructions

1. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Place soft butter in a medium-size mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula until nice and smooth. Add sugar and vanilla. Mix together by hand for about 1 minute, until fluffy and well blended.
3. Add the flour and cornstarch. Stir until flour is incorporated and the dough is shaggy. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and press dough in a ball. Knead a few times until fairly smooth then form into a ball again and press with your hands into a flat disk.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 3/8-inch thickness. Keep work surface, dough and rolling pin lightly (not too much) dusted with flour. Cut desired shapes and place on prepared pans. Re-roll scraps as many times as needed to use up the dough.
5. Place cutouts in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350˚F. Remove cookies from refrigerator and bake for 12-16 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden at the edges. Rotate pans halfway through for even browning. Cool completely before icing.
7. For the mint glaze, combine powdered sugar, half and half and 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract in a medium-size bowl. Mix until smooth. Glaze should be thick but pourable. Add a little more half and half if too thick. Taste the glaze and add more peppermint extract, if needed (see note above in post).Transfer the glaze to a shallow bowl.
8. To glaze the cookies, holding onto the edge of a cookie dip the top surface into the glaze, being sure all of the surface touches the glaze. Pull cookie up and out of the glaze. Allow excess glaze to drip back into the bowl. When glaze stops dripping, quickly flip the cookie right side up and give it a gentle jiggle to allow the glaze to flow evenly over the surface. Repeat with remaining cookies. Allow glaze to dry for 15-30 minutes.
9. For the buttercream piping, place butter in a medium-size bowl and stir until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons half and half and mint extract and stir vigorously until smooth, adding a bit more half and half if needed to achieve a thick but smooth consistency. Add food coloring, a drop at a time, to reach desired shade of green.
10. Place buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a small round icing tip (I used a Wilton #5 round tip). Starting at the upper edge of one cookie, pipe the Christmas trees by making lines that are increasingly larger, stopping about 1/4-inch above the lower edge of the cookie (see pictures above). Immediately sprinkle with sprinkles of choice. Set aside to dry.
11. Recipe Notes: ((1) See Café Tips above for lots of extra tips and instructions. (2) Recipe makes a dozen large (3-inch) or two dozen smaller (2-inch) cookies.
12. It’s simple and so good. Enjoy!

<<Italian Christmas Cookies>>

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