Butter Cookies

My grandma's butter cookies are famous in our family. We all absolutely love them, and it seems like anyone else who tries them does too. They are a staple at Christmas time, and no cookie tray is complete without them, in my opinion. To sum it up, they are bite-sized morsels of buttery goodness. I believe they are very similar to a traditional Spritz Cookie, although I can't say for sure.

All of my aunts have at least one (if not multiple) cookie press(es), specifically for these. Growing up, these cookies were strictly for holidays. However, years ago when I was in college, my mom used this recipe to make pink heart-shaped cookies and sent them to me in a Valentine's Day care package. I have to admit, I was a little thrown off - butter cookies in February?!? Well, my roommates and I devoured them in a few days, and I realized that this recipe is good for any time of year.

When I got my own cookie press as a wedding gift, I noticed that I had a shape I'd never seen before - a pumpkin! (You may have noticed how much I love pumpkins and Fall). So, I decided that little orange pumpkin-shaped butter cookies would be a new fall tradition, and I've made them each year since!

P.S. It's Friday the 13th! I need to find a scary movie to watch or something :)

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 scant cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons milk

food coloring/gel (orange or a combination of red and yellow)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugars until well blended. Add the yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk (I typically add half the dry, then 1 teaspoon of milk, and repeat).

4. Stir in food coloring/gel and mix to achieve desired color. I used 9 drops of yellow and 9 of red for these. You can premix the food coloring, or just add one color on top of the dough, dropwise, then add the second color in drops on top the first before mixing.

5. Add the dough to the barrel of a cookie press fitted with your disk shape of choice and press the cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6-10 minutes, depending on how brown you prefer them.

Source: My Grandma