Penny Cookies

from Colette's Christmas
by Colette Peters

FOR AS LONG as I can remember, my mother has made these delicious cookies for Christmas. Now I make them for the holidays, too. They are wonderful as a simple rolled cookie, but they can also be used for cutout cookies. Adding cocoa to half of the dough turns them into delicious chocolate pinwheels.

Makes 4 dozen cookies

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) softened butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 l/8 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (optional)
• variety of Christmas cookie cutters
• colored sugar (can be store-bought, or you can make your own by adding a few drops of liquid food coloring to 1/2 cup of sugar, then stirring until all of the color is incorporated into the sugar)
• wax paper
• rolling pin

• 1 recipe Royal Icing
• pastry bags and couplers
• tip #2
• sharp knife
• gold or silver dragées
• edible glitter
• sprinkles
• colored candies
• clear piping gel (available at cake-decorating stores)
• small paintbrush

In a heavy-duty mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar, and beat together until well blended. Slowly add the flour, a few tablespoons at a time, while mixing at low speed. If you do not have a heavy-duty mixer, the last of the flour can be kneaded in by hand. Add the vanilla.

The dough needs to be chilled before baking. If you plan to make cutout cookies, place the dough in a large plastic bag and let it chill for a few hours.

To make simple rolled cookies, divide the dough into 2 equal sections and make 2 long rolls, about 11/2 inches in diameter. Place each roll on a sheet of wax paper a little longer than the roll. Sprinkle with colored sugar and roll the dough until it is covered with sugar. Wrap the dough in the paper and refrigerate for a few hours. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the dough into l/4-inch-thick cookies with a sharp knife and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

To make pinwheel cookies, divide the dough into 2 equal parts and add 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa to half of the dough. Knead the cocoa into the dough until well blended. Place the plain dough on a piece of wax paper and flatten it slightly with your hands. Place another piece of wax paper on top of the dough and flatten it with a rolling pin to about l/4 inch thick. Repeat with the chocolate dough. Remove the top papers from both doughs, flip the chocolate dough on top of the plain dough, and flatten again, with a piece of wax paper on top, until the 2 layers combined are about 1/2 inch thick. Remove the top layer of wax paper and roll the dough, jelly-roll style, into a long cylinder. Cover with colored sugar and refrigerate for a few hours. Cut and bake as for rolled cookies.

To make decorated cutout cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out the chilled dough to about 1/8 thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out with cookie cutters, or use the patterns provided (patterns 14) and cut out the shapes with a sharp knife. Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the cookies on racks before decorating.

To decorate, make a recipe of royal icing and tint it to your desired colors. Keep the icing covered with a damp towel while you are working to prevent it from drying out. To cover a cookie with icing, thin some of the icing with a little water and spread it on the cookie with a knife or metal spatula. Leave some of the icing thick for piping borders or other designs, using the #2 tip. Add dragées, edible glitter, colored sprinkles, or other decorations to the wet icing. To attach candies to uniced cookies, brush a thin layer of clear piping gel on the cookie with a small paintbrush and add decorations.

© 1993 by Colette Peters