Saturday, December 19, 2015

Marguerite's Sugar Cookies - Biscotti allo Zucchero

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





These make a festive holiday cookie as well as a sweet treat to make any day more delicious. These cookies are very easy and fast to prepare. A great cookie to make with your children or grandchildren. As a small child I was in the kitchen with my mother baking these sugar cookies. When my son was small he was in the kitchen with me helping to get these ready for the holidays. The marachino cherries seem to be the favorite topping with my grandsons, but do try the walnut halves also, they are delicious and the flavor of the nuts is enhanced  by getting a great toasted flavor from baking.   

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter softened (organic preferably)
2 eggs (organic preferably)
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
sugar for the tops of the cookies
walnuts for the tops of the cookies
marachino cherries for the tops of the cookies
reserved juice from the marachino cherries (optional)

Lightly butter a cookie sheet and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl and add them to the butter sugar mixture. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Blend thoroughly and add the vanilla extract. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on your lightly buttered cookie sheet. Dip the bottom of a glass which has a diameter of around 2 inches into a plate of sugar, and then flatten each ball of cookie dough into a cookie the size of your glass. Repeat dipping into the sugar before flattening each cookie. Sprinkle a little additional sugar on each cookie. Place 1/2 of a marachino cherry or a walnut half on top of each cookie. You may drizzle a little of the reserved juice from the marachino cherries on some of the cookies if you wish. Place in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when they are still quite light in color. The bottoms of the cookies should be a very light golden brown, and the tops should remain white.

 

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