Beautiful Butter Cookies

Just writing this post makes me want a Carvel Flying Saucer.  "Why?" you ask.  Because I made these cookies for a wedding cookie table, and instead of cake at the wedding, we got to eat ice cream sandwiches!  They were awesome.  The wedding was for one of my best friends from college, Tina, and it was just the way a wedding should be:  perfect. 

Are you familiar with a wedding cookie table?  It is a Western Pennsylvania tradition.  Basically, it is a table that is filled with trays of cookies that are available during the reception.  Friends and family make the cookies, and you can eat as many as you want!  Hello!?  Why doesn't this happen at every wedding?  Who wouldn't want access to copious amounts of cookies for several hours?  Of course, it is just as fun to assemble the trays as it is to eat the cookies, particularly if you are doing it with some of your best friends!

When Tina sent out an email about baking cookies for the cookie table, I wasn't sure what I wanted to make; there were just so many options.  Eventually, I found the ideal recipe in a fundraiser cookie book that my Aunt Mary gave my mom back in 1989.  In it was a recipe for butter cookies that my aunt contributed.  When I saw the recipe, I knew it would be ideal for Tina's wedding.  So, I pulled out my ingredients and got to work.  The resulting cookies were pretty and delicious.  Next time you're looking for a fancy-looking cookie, try these out!

Notes:
These cookies are bite-sized.  Originally, this recipe called for piping the dough out on the cookie sheet.  I'm not particularly amazing at piping and couldn't find my cloth piping bag, so I opted to simply roll the cookies into balls and flatten them on a meat tenderizer.  I used the meat tenderizer, because it gave the cookies a nice waffle pattern.  If you're like me, it will be the only time that you have used your meat tenderizer!  If you don't have a meat tenderizer, you can use the bottom of a glass or the bottom of the tube from your food processor.  I don't turn the oven on until I start shaping the cookies, because it takes a few minutes to roll the balls and flatten them.  I used a bar of dark chocolate and chopped it up into pieces to dip these in.  You can use any type of chocolate that you like. If you like these cookies plain, you don’t have to dip them.  Also, you don’t need to use the sprinkles or sugar pearls if you don’t want to.  If you want the chocolate to maintain its glossiness, then temper it, so it maintains a shiny look.  If you don't want to fuss with tempering (like me), then just melt and dip.  These cookies freeze well. 

Adapted from my Aunt Mary's recipe (as included in the Whitehall Green Thumbers Garden Club 1989 cookie fundraiser book)

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups (8-9 ounces) dark chocolate chunks or chips
jimmies (sprinkles) or sugar pearls

Yields about 8 dozen cookies

Cream, Roll, Flatten, Bake:
In a medium-sized bowl, cream the butter.  Add the sugar slowly, and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add the almond and vanilla extracts and then the flour, one cup at a time.  Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 375ºF.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.  Scoop out a teaspoon's worth of dough, and roll it until into a ball.  Repeat until all of the dough is shaped into balls.  Next, pick up a ball and gently press it against the raised side of a meat tenderizer, until the cookie is about a ¼-inch think.  Carefully peel the cookie off the meat tenderizer, and place it printed-side up on the prepared cookie sheet.  Repeat with the dough balls until two cookies sheets are filled.  Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the bottoms are just beginning to brown.  Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.

Dip and Decorate:
Once the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or a small pan or bowl resting over a small amount of simmering water).  Be careful not to get any water in the chocolate, or it will seize, and you will have to start again.  Line two cookie sheets with wax paper.  Dip half of each cookie into the melted chocolate, and set the dipped cookie down on the lined sheet.  While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle it with some jimmies (sprinkles), or decorate it with sugar pearls.  Once the chocolate is set, store the cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper at room temperature or in the freezer.  Pin It