With countless choices for flavors, colours, and shapes, plus the comfort of creating them forward, these slice-and-bake cookies would be the humble hero of your vacation dessert platter.
Slice-and-Bake Vacation Cookies
Makes about 36 cookies
- 1¼ cups (284 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups (180 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 giant egg (50 grams), room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8 grams) vanilla extract
- 3¾ cups (469 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking powder
- Assorted gel meals coloring
- Nonpareils and diverse glowing sugar
- 1 giant egg white (30 grams), overwhelmed
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Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar at medium velocity till easy and fluffy, 2 to three minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Beat in egg till mixed; scrape backside and sides of bowl. Beat in vanilla.
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In a big bowl, whisk collectively flour, salt, and baking powder. With mixer on low velocity, progressively add flour combination to butter combination, beating till simply mixed and no dry streaks stay.
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End up dough onto a clear floor. Reserve two-thirds of dough (about 640 grams). Tint remaining one-third of dough with meals coloring as desired. Wrap coloured dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate till agency, about half-hour. Wrap reserved dough in plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature.
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End up coloured dough onto a frivolously floured floor. Roll to ½-inch thickness. Utilizing a 1¼- to 1½-inch vacation cutter (see Observe), lower dough, rerolling scraps and slicing to make use of all dough. Stack cutout dough items into 2 (4-inch-tall) stacks, frivolously brushing every dough piece with water in order that they adhere (A). Freeze for at the least half-hour or as much as 1 hour.
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Divide plain dough into 10 to 12 parts, and roll every right into a 4-inch strip. Place strips round stacks, firmly urgent to stick plain dough round cutout form and guarantee there aren’t any gaps (B). Begin with a small quantity of dough and construct outward to make sure the cutout form stays in middle of log. Repeat process all the way in which round stacks (C). Gently roll logs, and easy dough together with your arms to seal logs (D). Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate till agency, about 1 hour, or freeze for as much as 1 month.
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Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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In separate extensive shallow dishes, place nonpareils and glowing sugar.
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Frivolously brush egg white onto dough logs. Roll logs in nonpareils or glowing sugar as desired, gently urgent to stick. Utilizing a pointy knife, lower logs into ¼-inch-thick slices. Place on ready pans.
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Bake till floor is dry and set, 13 to fifteen minutes. Let cool on pans for 10 minutes. Take away from pans, and let cool utterly on wire racks. Retailer in an hermetic container for as much as 1 week.
Observe: Don’t use a cutter with intricate corners and patterns; it is going to be onerous to keep up the form of the cutout when assembling the log.