Easter is coming around again, another year gone. This year, admittedly is a little different with stay-at-home orders, social distancing and no getting together with folks to celebrate Spring. Nevertheless, I baked cookies. They are just sugar cookies, but I think that the glittery sugar makes them especially nice.
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
various colored sugar sprinkles
Directions
In mixing bowl, cream together unsalted butter, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, baking powder, salt, orange juice and vanilla until smooth and well combined. Chill in refrigerator 2-3 hours or until firm enough to be rolled.
Preheat over to 400F. Roll out half of the dough on a well-floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness (be careful to get the surface even, otherwise you will have oddly-browned cookies. Also, do not roll the dough to thin, otherwise you will have hard cookies when they come out of the oven). Cut with Easter-shaped cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet lined with silpat or onto parchment paper and carefully slide a toothpick in the end, so that an inch or two sticks out the bottom. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown at the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To decorate, whisk together lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Using a food safe paint brush, brush the cookies with the sugar “glue” and then sprinkle with sugar sprinkles. Let harden before placing in an airtight container for storage (up for 1 week).
