3 1/2 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 royal icing (recipe follows)
1 yellow food coloring
1 edible gold dust (opt., see note)
1 small gold dragees (opt., see note)
Directions
1. In medium-size bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and
shortening until well blended. Add sugar and beat until light and
fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
3. With mixer on low speed, add half of flour mixture to butter
mixture and beat just until blended; add remaining flour mixture and
beat until soft dough forms. Shape dough into 3 equal balls; wrap and
refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
4. Heat oven to 350'F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Cut 2 pieces of
waxed paper the same size as the baking sheets. Lightly flour waxed
paper and roll out one ball of dough between paper to 1/8 inch
thickness. Remove top piece of waxed paper. Using 6-inch angel-shaped
cookie cutter, cut out as many angels as possible from dough, leaving
1/2 inch between cookies. Remove all trimmings and press together.
Invert waxed paper with angels onto greased baking sheet and peel off
waxed paper. Reroll trimmings between waxed papers and repeat cutting
and inverting angels to fill second baking sheet. If making cookies
for ornaments, pierce a small hole with a drinking straw about 1/2
inch from top of each cookie.
5. Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Cool 5 minutes on
baking sheets, then remove to wire racks and cool completely before
decorating. Repeat rolling, cutting, and baking with remaining balls
of dough and trimmings.
6. To decorate cookies, prepare Royal Icing. Divide icing between 2
bowls. Cover one bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Using just a few
drops yellow food coloring, tint the other bowl of icing very pale
yellow.
7. With pastry brush, paint the front of each cookie with a thin
coating of tinted icing, being sure not to cover up pierced hole; let
dry and paint again. When icing has dried, brush cookies with gold
dust, if desired. Pipe decorative designs on front of cookies using
reserved white icing and pastry bag fitted with a small (#1) writing
tip. If using small gold dragees, carefully place onto cookies before
icing dries. If making cookies well in advance, store in airtight
container and freeze.
Royal Icing: In large bowl, with electric mixer on low speed, beat 2
1-lb packages confectioners' sugar, 6 large egg whites (if cookies
are going to be eaten, use meringue powder instead of egg whites and
follow package instructions for Royal Icing; see Note), and 1 t cream
of tartar until mixed. Increase speed to high, beat until very thick
and fluffy-about 6 minutes. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to
prevent dry- ing until ready to use. Makes 4 C.
Note: Meringue powder can be purchased wherever cake-decorating sup-
plies are sold or by calling Wilton Industries at (800) 772-7111.
Gold dust and dragees may be purchased from the Chocolate Gallery,
(212) 675-2253. Both sources carry decorating tips, pastry bags,
parchment paper, insulated baking sheets, and other baking supplies.
Country Living Holidays/1994 Scanned & edited by Di Pahl &
Servings: 36 cookies
Butter Cookie Angels - Country Living Holiday Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cookie; Holiday
The History of Recipes
Experts have proved the existence of recipes way back into the far past, in truth as far as the early Egyptians, and maybe further still. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these early cook books were just very simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for meal preparation.
As we move into The time of the roman empire 25BC a roman called Apicius assembled a collection of documents which described recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his scrolls, he recounts how the meals were divided into starters, main course and dessert, something we still use today. He also tells us how the ancient cooks used many aromatic flavors, including some familiar names like bay, mint and dill. In the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many new foods, spices and herbs from the Middle-East, including basil and rosemary. These new foods and tastes led to a torrent in recipe publications, most of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. By the arrival of the 20th century, cooking books are increasing in popularity due to increased literacy, people having more leisure time and having more disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Butter Cookie Angels Country Living Holiday recipe.
