12.17.18
Good Monday to you!!! What a weekend amiright? Or was that just me? If you followed me on Instagram this weekend, you got a small window into the epic baking marathon I endured. Saturday, Phil and I hosted our (3rd?) annual holiday party and I really wanted there to be all the food. I made chili, I made pasta, my friend donated a full ham to be eaten, I made a cake and a tart and a ton of COOKIES! I was determined that no one would starve. Yesterday, I posted my super fun cookie box (which may get its own mini post soon), because I actually made enough different treats for the party to fill one! By the end of the evening we had a sing along, we drank too much bourbon, we had eaten all the food (literally), and everyone had a favorite cookie they kept munching on! I refused to move from the couch yesterday as I still reveled in triumph. I loved seeing all my friends in once place, I loved seeing people I hadn’t been able to hang out with in a while. Our apartment is not huge by any means, but it’s still bigger than most in NYC, and having it packed to the gills with amazing people made me get fuzzy inside about THIS being what the season is actually about. I have so many things I’m ready to feature from that party on this blog, I can’t wait to share it all. And since I’m basically home for the rest of the year, I think my baking may go into maximum overdrive. Maybe I’m making up for lost time this year when I had long stretches of not posting? Maybe.
So I’m starting with these butter cookies that are melt-in-your-mouth good. They’re easy, fast and can really be glazed or decorated in any way you choose. They’re a little rustic looking. I feel like rustic is maybe one tier above sloppy, is that right? I probably should’ve chilled my dough a little longer, but THERE JUST WASN’T TIME. They still taste great, and I had some maple sugar in my pantry from a trip to Vermont last fall and dipped the glazed cookies in those, while decorating the rest with sprinkles. This is a perfectly simple, yet perfectly delicious cookie.
Maple Butter Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups flour
For the glaze
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 3-4 tbsp milk
- 2-3 tsp maple syrup
- sugar or sprinkles for decoration
Instructions
For the cookies
- In the bowl of a stand up mixer, beat together butter, sugar, salt and vanilla bean paste with paddle attachment on medium speed
- Once combined, add in yolk
- Scrape down sides of bowl and slowly add in flour on low speed
- Once combined, dump onto lightly floured parchment paper, using a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick, chill dough for 30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 325 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper
- Using a snowflake, or cookie cutter shape of choice, cut out cookies, transfer to lined baking sheet, if oven isn’t preheated yet, chill cookies until ready to bake
- Bake 14-16 minutes, check on these cookies early, they can brown too much on the edges quickly
- Allow to cool before glazing
For the glaze
- Add powdered sugar to medium bowl, slowly add in milk and maple syrup, a little at a time and stir until it’s a thick consistency, (too thin = add more sugar, too thick = add more milk)
- Dip or spread glaze with offset spatula onto cookies and dip in flavored sugar or sprinkles and decorate as desired
- Keep in airtight container at room temperature
