Remember the wonderful assortment of circus animal cookies (and animal cookie cutters) I showed you awhile back in March? Look at these pretty pastel-colored cute-as-button sugar cookies found via iDIY. Great as party favors or as little gifts.

Recipe here courtesy of Chasing Twilight.

Ingredients

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus a little more for work surface
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large cage-free egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Food coloring
Sanding sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and then set it aside.

2. Mix the butter and granulated sugar into a seperate bowl and mix that (on medium if you have an electric mixer) until the it’s pale and fluffy.

3. Add an egg and vanilla. By this time I’m sure you’re arm’s getting tired, but if you have an electric mixer, reduce the speed to low.

4. Now add your original flour mixture; and mix them together until no visible difference remains.

5. Divide the dough into thirds, and knead one color of food coloring into the first piece and then your second food coloring into another.

6. Shape all three pieces into disks. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. (About an hour)

7. Preheat your oven to 325F. Remove one disk from refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature until slightly soft, which takes about 5 to 10 minutes.

8. Roll out dough on a piece of lightly floured parchment to a 1/8-inch thickness, dusting with flour as needed.

9. Cut out circles with a 1 3/4 inch round cutter, then lightly press with a 1 1/2 inch round cutter.

10. Make your button holes with a skewer.

11. Reroll scraps, and cut. (If dough becomes too soft because you keep messing up, refrigerate it for 10 minutes and problem solved.)

12. Repeat with remaining dough. Space 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and sprinkle them with the sanding sugar.

13. Bake! Rotate the cookies about halfway through until the edges are golden (16 to 18 minutes), then let them cool completely. Your cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to one week.

Enjoy!

Tags: food, recipe

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 2:06 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.