Despite the fact that I am a horrible baker (except for bread), when L. was little I had a cookie decorating party for him every Christmas. I would make dozens of cookies in the shape of snowmen, Santas, reindeer, Christmas trees and stars. He and his classmates would sit around our dining room table and would go crazy with the different colored frostings I had made, with frosting pens, sprinkles, silver balls, edible glitter, you name it. We would all have lunch and play games and each child went home with a shiny balloon, a sack of sloppily decorated cookies to share and a slightly queasy stomach from too much sugar and bouncing around. It was always a fun time.
L. is much too cool for that type of event now. Besides, his Godmother is Katherine Yang who owns the Manhattan-based dessert company Gigi Blue which specializes in American and French inspired sweets. Katherine keeps L. in professionally baked goods and, much to my horror, crisp $100 bills every time she sees him. He no longer has any use for my misshapen attempts at cookies (though he still accepts my cash offerings with enthusiasm). Though she now favors her Godson over her old friend, I continue to salivate over Katherine's "food porn" photos and would kill for her chocolate chip cookies - but that recipe will have to wait for another post.
I will always be grateful to Katherine, not just for her friendship and sweet treats but for having made L. a first birthday cake that can never be outdone. A circus theme was suggested and all three rings showed up to the party. Three cakes and cookie circus animals; who could ever better that?
I recently asked Katherine if she could send us a recipe for Christmas cookies and she very kindly obliged with the sugar cookie recipe below. It is one that she has shared before with the people who write the Canal House cookbooks (it appears in Canal House Cooking Volume N° 5, The Good Life). If you have not come across these cookbooks yet, you are in for a treat. Take a look and add to your collection, here. You can also follow the Canal House blog here, for prose and recipes that will make your tummy rumble.
Recipe from Katherine (comments in parenthesis are my own)
Makes 3 dozen cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsps kosher salt 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted ¼ cup granulated sugar 1 Tbsp vanilla extract Decorating sprinkles and sugars or other cookie decorations, optional (Not optional. What's the point otherwise).
Sift the flour and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside. Lightly whisk together the whole egg and egg yolk in a small bowl and set aside.
Beat together the butter, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until just combined. Add the sifted flour and beat just until the dough is smooth. (This is really important to bear in mind because amateur bakers such as myself always overbeat cookie dough, which is one of the reasons. besides our fear of butter, that our cookies taste less delicious than Katherine’s).
Cut 8 pieces of parchment paper into 8"× 12" sheets. Lay one sheet on a flat work surface and put a quarter of the dough in the center. Lay another sheet on top of the dough then roll the dough out between the sheets until it is ¼–⅛ inch thick. Transfer the rolled-out dough to a flat tray. Repeat with the remaining dough, stacking the sheets of dough on top of each other on the tray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days. (This sounds fiddly but is actually not that difficult. If you can use a rolling pin, you can do this. If I can do this, you can do this).
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Take one sheet of dough out of the refrigerator at a time. Peel off the top sheet of parchment. Use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes, leaving them in place. Dust the cutter with a little flour if the dough begins to stick.
Using a thin spatula, transfer the cut out shapes to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet (I will admit to reusing the ones one which I stored the dough), spacing them about 2 inches apart. Decorate them, if you like, with decorating sprinkles and/or sugars. Refrigerate the cut-out shapes on the baking sheet until cold. Repeat until all of the dough has been cut into shapes. Refrigerate the dough whenever it becomes too soft to work with. Re-roll the scraps between sheets of parchment paper, refrigerate dough until firm, and repeat the process until all the dough has been cut out.
Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking, until they are slightly puffed and the edges are pale golden brown, 10–12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
The kind folks of Canal House offer these alternative flavors:
COCONUT - Follow directions for making Sugar Cookies dough, substituting 1 teaspoon coconut extract for the vanilla.
LEMON - Follow directions for making Sugar Cookies dough, substituting 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice for the vanilla.
NUT - Follow directions for making Sugar Cookies dough. Sprinkle the tops of the cut-out dough with some chopped nuts before baking them. You’ll need about ½ cup chopped nuts. Don’t use toasted nuts; the raw nuts will toast while baking.
ORANGE-ROSEMARY - Follow directions for making Sugar Cookies dough, substituting freshly grated zest of 2 oranges (1½–2 tablespoons) and 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary leaves for the vanilla.
(Photos courtesy of Katherine Yang and the Ladies of Canal House)