You'll need a cookie press to make these buttery cookies. If you form the dough into wreaths, tint it green and then decorate each cookie with red hots or red sprinkles.
Makes about five dozen.
What you need:
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for the baking sheets
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- Sprinkles, jimmies, and red hots for decorating, if you like
What to do:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter some baking sheets.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter for 2 minutes, until little tails form and it's pale yellow. Gradually add the sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add the salt, vanilla extract and the egg. Beat thoroughly.
- Sift in half the flour and beat again. Sift in the remaining flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until you have a nice soft dough.
- Spoon the dough into a cookie press and pipe out cookies onto the prepared baking sheets. You can make wreaths, stars, candy canes, squiggles or any shape that you like. Press jimmies, sprinkles or red hots into the tops of the cookies.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are golden. With a spatula, remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Plus:
How to Host a Cookie Exchange
Photo Credit: jdwfoto/iStockphoto
