cookie — Blog - Parsley and Pom Poms

I discovered this recipe on Instagram and so glad I did. The original can be found on thefeedfeed.com. I made a few additions to the recipe like adding powdered sugar on top and I swapped out the cherry preserves for raspberry. These cookies are truly incredible and my new absolute favorite Christmas cookie. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ teaspoon (1 gram) vanilla extract

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup or more of raspberry preserves

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla at medium speed until creamy about 3 minutes. Stop every minute or so to scrape mixture off sides of mixing bowl.

In another medium size bowl, sift together flour, lemon juice, and salt. Reduce mixer speed to low. Slowly and gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Beat until combined. Divide dough in half, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough to ⅛-inch to ¼-inch thickness. Use a 2-3” cookie cutter of choice cut dough into 14 cookies. Reroll dough scraps as few times as possible.

HINT: Add flour to surface as you continue rolling out dough. If dough continues to flake apart or stick to rolling pin, don’t be afraid to gather dough back together and pound out flat with hands rather than with pin. I used a combination of my hands and the rolling pin to get all the cookies rolled out and cut.

With remainder of dough cut another 14 cookies out. Then, using a smaller cookie cutter, cut centers from 14 of the cookies. Place 1 inch apart on prepared pans. Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Cookies should just be set, still appear light in color and edges barely browned. Let cool completely on pans. Spread about 1 teaspoon raspberry preserves on flat side of all solid cookies. Place cookies with cutouts, onto flat surface and sift powdered sugar ontop. Gently place powdered cut out cookies on top of flat cookies with jam. Place back into oven for 2-3 minutes. Let cool and package in airtight container. Enjoy, these are delish!

I am overly obsessed with everything cactus. I decided to put together a small treat table for this upcoming Cinco de Mayo (tomorrow!) and went with cacti as my fiesta theme. Sugar cookies, are similar to my banana bread theory, in that you can't try too many recipes in order to get you to your absolute favorite. So this time around, I used Alton Brown's cookie recipe from Food Network. They are not very sweet, which is perfect, especially because I decided to dose them in green icing and sprinkles. I mean...how cute are these? Perfect for any summer fiesta! Ingredients and directions all below OR click HERE for link to original recipe. xo RCN

Cookie Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour, and some extra for rolling out dough

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon milk

Baking Instructions:

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer with whisk attachment and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. If dough and mixture clump towards center of whisk, take a second to pause your mixer and use a spatular to clear out the whisk, continue to mixing. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with flour. (Alton uses powdered sugar- this will make your cookie sweeter) Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with flour (or powdered sugar), and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. I use a silicon baking mat + a little flour and it works excellently! Cut into shape with cactus cookie cutters, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges. Rotate cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack.

Decoration Directions:

You will need a clean surface, wire cooling rack, paper towel, toothpicks, mini faux floral buds, green cookie icing , and white sprinkles.

Snip off flower blooms from fake stems, leaving 1/4"-1/2" of wire on end (to stick into cactus arm). Set flowers aside. Set up cooling rack, and place paper towels underneath. Once cookies are cool, move to a clean surface. I reused my silicon baking mat. One at a time, place cookie on mat and begin covering top of cookie with green icing (follow directions on bottle as to how to warm up in microwave, etc.). Let the icing drip over the sides of cookie. Take a toothpick and continue to smooth out icing on surface and spread icing to sides and cover sides, as well. Take white sprinkles and lightly and sporadically sprinkle onto top of green icing. Take one bloom and fluff out the petals. Hold the little wire end and stick it directly into the cactus cookie arm. Using another toothpick, stick the toothpick under a corner edge of the cookie to lift it off surface. Once it is tilted up, grab cookie from underneath and transfer to a cooling rack to let excess icing drip off. Continue all steps until all cookies are decorated. After a few more minutes, transfer into air tight container. If possible, try to keep cookies in a single layer, or use a sheet of wax paper in between stacks.