Originally I had planned for these to be Ugly Sweater cookies, as I love both a sweater and a cookie, but I didn’t acquire a sweater cookie cutter in time, so I made mitten and stocking cookies instead. A classic Christmas tradition is made a little bit more special by making the cookies and icing from scratch.
Ugly Seater/Stocking/Mitten Cookies
Ingredients:
Cookies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour (seek out the cake flour instead of APF, it makes a difference)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Icing:
4 cups icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 egg whites (or 3 oz pasteurized egg whites)
Food coloring as desired
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Then beat in egg and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 3 additions.
4. Shape the dough into a disc (it will be soft), wrap with plastic and chill in the fridge until firm, about 2 hours.
5. On a lightly floured work surface, gently knead the dough just to soften it slightly. Roll out the dough to approximately ¼-inch thick and cut out cookies using a cookie cutter.
6. Place the cookies on the baking trays, leaving ½-inch between them. Bake in a 350°F oven until edges are light golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on racks.
7. For royal icing, combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny.
8. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired.
9. Allow cookies to fully cool before decorating. For the red icing, I dipped the cookies in the icing and scraped off the excess with an offset spatula. I let them set for about 2-2.5 hours before piping the white icing. Then I let them set overnight before transporting.
Chabai Booker 