Sugar Cookies - Imbibing feeling of Christmas with citrusy and spiced flavors all at once

Christmas without Sugar Cookies is considered incomplete. The fun is not only in making these and covering them with icing or decorating them with sprinklers, it is more the way one can interact with the kids who are all to eager to get Santa on their side with these cookies. The recipe cannot be more simple and is another loved cookie along with Christmas Shortbread.



I love Dorie Greenspan's recipe for these favorites and I have just played around with the recipe as she suggests in her book "Baking: From my home to yours". The taste is simply marvelous. You can make it soft and chewy if you like by baking for less time - or you can have a crispy one with extra baking. Either way, this recipe is a total keeper.

Ingredients


• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
  
• 1 stick plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
  
• 1 large egg
  
  
• 1 large egg yolk
  
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
  
• zest of one lemon and 1/2 an orange
  
  
• 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon+ginger powder+cardamom
  
  
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar for dusting ( mix cinnamon powder with granulated sugar)
  

Method

1.Mix the zest along with sugar and rub in until aromatic.



2.Add this to the butter and using a hand mixer blend until creamy and smooth. Beat it down further with eggs and spices along with vanilla until well blended.



3.Slowly add the flour to this butter-sugar mixture, making sure to beat it softly. It is better to use a rubber spatula at this point to mix it well.



4.The soft will be v soft and smooth. Divide the dough into two and wrap them in a plastic wrap. Refrigerate them for at least 2 hours.



5.While Dorie's says to use wax paper to roll out the dough, I use the following method which works v well for me. I sprinkle powdered sugar on the board and roll the dough on it. It helps a lot and does not stick that much. Roll to the desired thinness.



6.Cut out shapes of your choice with the help of cookie cutters.



7.Place them in Baking Sheets lined with parchment paper. This batch easily makes approx 40-50 cookies.



8.Bake them in a preheated 350F oven for about 9-15 min depending on the level of softness/crispiness required. The cookies will not color much. Once out from the oven, rest them for 2 min and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.



9.You can simply leave them as it is, or use icing/colored sugar to further decorate them.



This traditional American Favorite is sent off to Meeta's event with theme "World of Spice Cookies"