Annie hall's butter cookies

 
                        Annie Hall's Butter Cookies
 
 Recipe By     : Susan Branch; Christmas From The Heart of The Home
 Serving Size  : 96   Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Cookies
 
   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    2      cups          butter -- softened
    1 1/2  cups          sugar
    4                    egg yolks
    2      teaspoons     vanilla
    4 1/2  cups          unbleached flour
      1/2  teaspoon      salt
 
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer (even the hand-held
 kind), cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix
 well. Sift flour and salt together and beat into butter mixture until well
 mixed. When ready to bake use an ungreased cookie sheet and place cookies 1
 inch apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, but do not brown them. Remove
 cookies from cookie sheet while still warm and cool on sheets of waxed
 paper. Decorate, if you like. Makes 6 to 8 dozen. Taste fabulous!
 
 Shapes:
 
 Candy Canes: Divide 3 cups of dough in half. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons red food
 coloring to one half. Using about a tablespoon of dough, roll a 4 inch
 strip of each color (no fatter than a pencil). Place the two colored rolls
 side-by-side and press lightly together. Gently twist like a rope and place
 on ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Curve the top like a candy cane and
 bake about 10 minutes; do not brown. You can sprinkle with crushed
 peppermint candy.
 
 Rolled Cookies: Shape dough into rolls with width of a cookie. Wrap in
 waxed paper and chill. Before baking, roll in chocolate shots. Slice 1/2
 inch thick and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10
 minutes; do no brown.
 
 Stars, Hearts, Circles and Jelly-Filled: Fill a pastry bag with unchilled
 dough and put through a 'star tip' (sizes 2 and 7 - 9). Squeeze onto cookie
 sheet into the shapes you like. For instance, make star, then fill baked
 cookie center with red jelly. Decorate these cookies with cinnamon hearts,
 mini chocolate morsels, color sugar, little silver balls, or frosting from
 a tube. Bake them, same as others. Do not brown.
 
 Cookie Cutter Cookies: Chill dough. Roll out onto lightly floured board to
 thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut with cookie cutters and bake as mentioned above.
 Decorate your own way.
 
 Plain Old Drop Cookies: Just drop unchilled dough by teaspoonful onto
 ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Don't brown.
 Remove from pans immediately.
 
 MC Formatted by Brenda Adams ; mc and
 Bakery-Shoppe posted 5/16/97
 
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