Express your love this Christmas with these specially made biscuit from Martha Stewart.
Prep Time29mins
14mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Christmas, cookies
Servings: 50
Author: Martha Stewart
Ingredients
250gramsunsalted butter, softened
1cupwhite granulated sugar
1/2tspsalt
1large egg
1tspvanilla extract
3cupsplain flour
White, pink and red sanding sugar, to decorate
Instructions
Using an electric mixer with a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, beating well. Add vanilla. Beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, beating until just combined (do not over-mix). Divide dough in half. Shape each dough portion into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm.
Remove one disc of dough from fridge. Stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes or until soft enough to roll. Roll between 2 sheets baking paper until 3mm thick. Freeze for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm.
Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper. Using bell-shaped cutters, cut shapes from dough, re-rolling and cutting any dough scraps. Transfer to prepared trays, leaving 4cm between each shape (refrigerate dough if it becomes too soft to cut). Repeat process with remaining dough disc.
Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until firm and just starting to turn golden around edges, swapping trays halfway during cooking. Stand for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To decorate, brush top of cookies lightly with water. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, as desired. Shake off any excess sugar. Serve.
Notes
The secret to crisp-looking outlines is to chill the dough before and after cutting out the shapes. We’ve used 3 different sized bell-shaped cutters: 4cm, 6cm and 8cm.