Glazed Butter Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until easy to handle., On a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. , In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Stir in food coloring. Lightly spread over cooled cookies. Let stand until set.

Steps:

• Bring the apple cider, cinnamon stick and allspice to a simmer in a small pot over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 12 minutes; set aside to cool. Remove the cinnamon stick and allspice berries.
• Whisk the flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and half of the cider mixture and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into 3/4-inch balls and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until golden brown, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar and the remaining cider mixture in a small bowl until smooth. Spread the glaze on the cookies and top with the coarse sugar. Let set 30 minutes.

Steps:

• FOR THE COOKIES: In bowl of standing mixer fitted with flat beater, mix flour, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined, about 5 seconds. With mixer running on low, add butter 1 piece at a time; continue to mix until mixture looks crumbly and slightly wet, about 1 minute longer. Add vanilla and cream cheese and mix on low until dough just begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.
• Remove bowl from mixer; knead dough by hand in bowl for 2 to 3 turns to form large cohesive mass. Turn out dough onto countertop; divide in half, pat into two 4-inch disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until they begin to firm up, 20 to 30 minutes. (Can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 weeks; defrost in refrigerator before using.).
• Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out 1 dough disk to even 1/8-inch thickness between 2 large sheets parchment paper; slide rolled dough on parchment onto baking sheet and chill until firm, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat with second disk.
• Working with first portion of rolled dough, cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter(s) and place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until light golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time. Repeat with second portion of rolled dough. (Dough scraps can be patted together, chilled, and re-rolled once.) Cool cookies on wire rack to room temperature.
• FOR THE GLAZE: Whisk cream cheese and 2 tablespoons milk in medium bowl until combined and no lumps remain. Whisk in confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding remaining milk as needed until glaze is thin enough to spread easily. Drizzle or spread scant teaspoon glaze with back of spoon onto each cooled cookie, as desired.

Steps:

• Place the butter, sugar and molasses in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium speed until smooth and incorporated. Add the egg yolk and continue to beat until fully combined.
• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper into a bowl. Turn the speed of the mixer to low, and add the dry ingredients to the butter and molasses. Once the mix comes together, tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently. Roll out the dough so that it is about 1/4 inch/ 0.5 cm thick. If the dough is very soft, you will need to chill it.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Dip the cookie stamps in a small bowl of flour, shake off any excess and then press them firmly into the dough, one at a time, to create a deep imprint. How far you need to press to get an imprint will depend on your stamp; the patterns on some are more deeply cut than others. Bear in mind that the cookies rise a little when cooked, so any soft imprints will disappear. Using a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the pattern, cut out the pieces of imprinted gingerbread. Transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheets, spaced about 3/4 inch/2 cm apart. Reroll the dough and continue to stamp and cut cookies until all the dough is used up.
• Bake for 9-10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until firm to the touch. They will continue to firm up as they cool, so don't be tempted to bake them for any longer.
• To make the rum butter glaze while the gingerbreads are in the oven, as the glaze needs to be brushed onto the cookies while they are still warm, sift the confectioners' sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl. Add the melted butter, rum (or lemon juice) and water and mix with a spoon until smooth. The glaze will thicken slightly if it sits around, so stir through a little more warm water if you need to-it should be the consistency of runny honey.
• Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them to cool for 5 minutes, then brush or dab the glaze all over with a pastry brush. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Make-Ahead
• Once the dough is made, it can be covered in plastic wrap and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking.
• Storage
• These will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container. The glaze will discolor and crack a little, but this will not affect how they taste.

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoons salt into bowl. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add candied ginger, and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Add flour mixture, then beat on medium-low speed until dough just comes together.
• Shape dough into two 1-inch thick disks. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Roll out 1 disk on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out 2-inch circles. Place rounds 1/2 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Rolls out scraps. Refrigerate rounds for 10 minutes.
• Bake rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are set and edges are bright gold, 12-14 minutes. Transfer parchment with cookies to wire racks. Let cook completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Cookies can be stored for up to 3 days.
• Whisk confectioners' sugar, lemon zest and juice, honey, water, and pinch of salt in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the cooked cookies. Let stand until glaze is set, at least 20 minutes. Glazed cookies can be stored overnight.