Ingredients
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2 1/3 cup flour
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1 teaspoon baking soda
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2 tsp Chinese five-spice blend or pumpkin pie spice
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pinch salt
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1 1/4 cup sugar
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2 sticks butter
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1 large egg
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1 cup confectioners' sugar
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1 tbsp milk
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1/2 tsp almond extract
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decorating icing pens
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1 cup raspberry jam or Nutella, sprinkles, decors, etc. to decorate
Steps
1
Mix flour, baking soda, 5-spice blend and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Refrigerate dough 2 hours or overnight until firm.
2
Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with favorite cookie cutters. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets.
3
Bake until lightly browned, about 8 min. Cool.
4
For the glaze, mix confectioners’ sugar, milk and almond extract. (Stir in additional milk as needed to thin icing or more confectioners’ sugar to thicken, if needed.) Place small amount of icing into small shallow bowls, using one bowl for each color desired. Stir drops of food color into icing until desired shade is reached.
5
To ice cookies, hold cookie by its edge and dip top of cookie into icing. (Or spoon the icing onto cookie using a teaspoon.) Place iced cookies on wire rack set over foil-covered baking sheet to dry. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch drips.) To add decorative details to cookies, spoon tinted icing into resealable plastic bag. Snip off a tiny piece of the corner. Squeeze icing through hole in plastic bag to decorate cookies. If desired, Colored Sugar may be sprinkled onto freshly iced cookies.
6
To make cut outs: Chill the dough for 2 hours or overnight. Roll out on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into squares or circles with fluted cutters. Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
7
Using smaller cutters remove a hole in the center of half the cookies, if desired. Refrigerate.
8
Bake until lightly browned, about 8 min. Cool.
9
Cover cookie bottoms with a thin layer of jam or Nutella. Place other cookies on top.
10
Cool completely and then dust with confectioners sugar.
Tips
Chinese 5-spice blend is a mix of ginger, cinnamon and anise. If you can’t find it in the baking section of your supermarket, replace with 1 tsp cinnamon and ½ tsp each ground ginger and ground nutmeg, or use pumpkin pie spice.
