I decided I wanted to do some Holiday baking. I went to Crate & Barrel yesterday and bought some cute cookie cutters. I opted for pretty generic shapes because I have Jewish friends. I didn't like the snowflake one. Bummer. I made all star cookies on lollipop sticks. They are all baked and in airtight containers rights now. I will decorate with white chocolate and royal icing tomorrow. I made four batches using two pounds of butter.
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter (I bought Horizon Organic)
1/2 cup baker's sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 - 2 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
water (as needed)
1. Cream together butter, sugar, and almond extract. (Bring butter to room temperature first.)
2. Mix in flour one cup at a time. You may not need the last 1/2 cup depending on consistency. I had to add a few drops of water to get the dough to come together. It was too crumbly. I thought I was going to have to toss it but I did a test bake and it tasted wonderful.
Tommorow they will be dipped in white chocolate and decorated with blue or red royal icing. Too bad the snowflake cutter was too difficult to deal with.