Christmas Smash Sugar Cookies

When I choose cookies to make for the holidays, I inevitably pick a recipe that I end up not making. I find a different recipe, or I end up not having a needed ingredient, or something else happens. That’s fine with me- there are lots of cookie recipes out there that I want to try. I got a Food Network email about the Top 100 cookies. How could I resist that?

This recipe was the one featured in that email, but there are lots of other interesting cookie recipes. I did one other “smash” recipe, and those turned out well, so this was intriguing. These cookies are a basic sugar cookie that you then roll them in sprinkles. I compiled several different types of sprinkles, and that seemed to work. 

My challenge was to find room in my refrigerator for two baking sheets. I ended up making my refrigerator a giant game of Jenga, shuffling stuff around and balancing one baking sheet on the top of my egg carton. Whatever works! You then smash down the cookies before baking and then drizzle with powdered sugar glaze. These are super festive and cheerful, and I’m really glad that I made these this year.

Christmas Smash Sugar Cookies
3/4 cup butter, room temperature 
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla 
2 eggs, lightly beaten 
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
Holiday sprinkles

3/4 cup powdered sugar 
1-2 tablespoons milk/cream

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix again on medium to combine. The mixture may look curdled. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until the dough just comes together.

Shape the dough into 24 equal balls. Shape each piece into a ball and roll the ball in holiday sprinkles. Place on a Silpat-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for one hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the baking sheets from the refrigerator. With measuring cup, flatten each cookie to about 3” in diameter. The edges will crack- that is what you want. If the measuring cup sticks to the cookies, dip the cup in flour.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, make the glaze: in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until the glaze is smooth and thick. Drizzle the glaze randomly over the cooled cookies. Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Recipe from The Food Network

Chewy Sprinkle Cookies

Summer is here and I suppose it is time to start thinking about different cookie recipes that are a little bit lighter. It’s hard with cookies, as in the summer I have more time, but then it isn’t the best atmosphere in my house to bake. Unless it is the hottest day, I try to find a recipe that is a little simpler and doesn’t require too long in the oven.

I found this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and while it isn’t exotic in terms of ingredients, the sprinkles made this cookie fun. The recipe notes that you can use whatever sprinkles you want, which makes this the perfect cookie for any occasion. I had some time, and I went out to find more interesting sprinkles. This was harder than expected, and I ended up with fairly traditional sprinkles, although the ones I used were a slightly different color palette.

These cookies use a combination of butter and shortening; the butter provides crispness, and the shortening provides chewiness, so these cookies are just lovely. The sprinkles, at least the ones I used, were round and liked to bounce, which was tricky! The dough is soft, and it helped to reshape the cookie into a round after rolling in the sprinkles. These baked up fine, although I worried about the 400-degree oven temperature, but it was no issue. These chewy cookies with a bit of crispness are lovely, and some of the sprinkles fall off while you are eating them, but that’s ok.

Chewy Sprinkle Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5+ ounces sprinkles

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar on medium until light. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt and mix until the dough comes together.

Place the sprinkles into a small bowl. Shape the dough into teaspoon-sized balls and slightly flatten the balls. Roll the dough in the sprinkles and press so that the sprinkles adhere to the cookie dough. As needed, reshape the cookies so that they are rounded. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and look set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: sprinkles may stain or transfer their color to other items.

Recipe from Pear Tree Kitchen