Ridiculously Good Recipes

This is my last and best recipe for our little holiday edition of RGR.  These are kind of time consuming , but they are JUST. SO. GOOD.  I look forward to Christmas baking every year JUST for these little babies.

I will warn you, if you think Sugar Cookies are too picky to make, then you’ll hate making these and should probably instead just come over for coffee and eat mine.  HOWEVER, should you try these, you will NOT regret the time you put into them.  Not only are they beautiful to look at but they are DIVINE to eat.

So without further ado, I present to you:

Pastel Cream Wafers (sound trumpets *here*)

you will need:

- 1/2 C Cold Butter (no substitutes)

- 1 C All Purpose Flour

- 3-4 Tbsp half-&-half cream

- Sanding Sugar or Granulated Sugar (sanding sugar is apparently a little coarser than regular granulated sugar and should be available where cake decorating supplies are sold.  I have always used plain granulated sugar – this year I actually looked for some sanding sugar at Michaels but couldn’t find any.  So just use normal sugar)

Preheat your oven to 375.

Cut the butter into the flour until the butter is the size of small peas.  Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of cream into the mixture and toss with a fork.  Repeat until all is moistened, then form into a ball.  Don’t use more than 4 Tbsp of cream.  If it seems like it’s not moistened enough, form the ball with your hands and it will all come together.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface to slightly less than 1/8” thick.  You don’t want these too thick as they will puff up to about double after they bake.

Cut into rounds with a 1 3/4” scalloped cookie cutter (I bought a set of cutters specifically for this recipe – although I’ve found them useful for other things as well).  Dip one side of each round in the sugar.  Place sugar side up on parchment lined cookie sheet.  With a fork, prick 3-4 parallel rows in each cutout.

Bake for 8-10 min or till edges just begin to brown.  **In my oven I don’t bake them for longer than 7 min, so keep an eye on the first batch or two and don’t over-brown them.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

 

Now, you will look at all the lovely cutouts on your cooling racks, pat yourself on the back and think “man, I’ve made a ton of cookies”.  Actually, you have only made half that many, because you will be making them into sandwiches.  Feel discouraged *here*.  Take heart – it will all be worth it shortly.

You will now need to make Powdered Sugar Frosting:

Stir together 1 Cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp softened butter (no substitutes), 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 drop of food coloring, and enough half-&-half (about 1 Tbsp) to make a spreadable frosting.  I mash the butter into the powdered sugar first using a fork, and then add the rest, mashing as I go.  It works beautifully.  Trust me.

Spread a scant 1 tsp of frosting on the flat (non-sugared) side of a cookie.  Top with another cookie, flat sides together.  I doubled this recipe and made 54 sandwiches (108 single cookies) – so a single recipe will probably make about 27. 

This may seem like a lot, until you eat one, and then you will realize that 54 won’t be nearly enough.  Especially if you have to share.

Now, this all probably sounds time consuming and like too much work.  However, start to photo finish (icing and all), I made a double recipe of these babies in an hour and a half.  So that’s not too bad is it?