Marthas Brown Sugar Easter Cookies Recipes

MARTHA'S EASTER SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and cognac until well combined. Add flour mixture; beat on low until just combined. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough evenly and shape into 2 disks; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 45 minutes and up to 5 days.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate until very firm, about 30 minutes, or freeze 10 minutes. Stamp out shapes. Transfer cutouts to prepared sheets, about 1 inch apart. Reroll scraps; stamp out more shapes and transfer to sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes, or freeze 10 minutes. Bake until set and golden around edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks; let cool completely.
• Royal Icing: In a bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, egg whites, and 2 teaspoons lemon juice until smooth. If necessary, add more lemon juice or confectioners' sugar to reach desired consistency. Divide and tint with gel-paste colors as desired. Pour some into squeeze bottles for detailing.

BROWN-SUGAR AND PECAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, nutmeg, and cloves; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. Add pecans. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture; mix until just combined.
• Turn dough out onto work surface and form into two flat squares; wrap with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks set in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• Place a nonstick baking mat on work surface. Place one square chilled dough on baking mat; top with a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll out dough between baking mat and plastic wrap until it is 3/8-inch-thick. Transfer to freezer to chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough.
• Using a 2 1/4-inch square cutter, cut out dough and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Carefully prick each cookie with a skewer, gently pushing through the dough until it reaches the baking sheet.
• Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake, about 10 minutes. Halfway through baking, repeat pricking process and rotate baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back. Cookies should be very pale and not take on too much color. Transfer cookies to rack to cool.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.
• For the icing, sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid. Spread over cookies with back of a spoon. Add other decorations, if desired. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes.

EASTER EGG SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the sugar dough: Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat together the vanilla and egg in a small bowl.
• Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula as needed.
• Reduce the speed to low again, slowly pour in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, beating until combined after each and increasing the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters as needed. Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide into 2 even pieces. Shape each piece into a flat square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Dust another sheet of parchment with flour and put 1 dough piece on top. Dust with more flour and top with another sheet of parchment. Roll the dough out between the parchment sheets into a square about 1/4 inch thick (and about 11 by 9 inches) and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.
• Working with 1 dough sheet at a time, cut out cookies with a 2 1/2- by 2 2/4-inch Easter egg cookie cutter and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate while you cut the remaining cookies. Reroll any scraps of dough and repeat the freezing, cutting and refrigerating process until all the dough is used. Repeat with the remaining dough sheet.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets front to back and bottom to top about halfway through, until cookies are golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets set on a wire rack, about 30 minutes.
• For the icing: Meanwhile, sift the confectioners' sugar into a large bowl. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until the icing is thick enough to show the line of the whisk that disappears within about 8 seconds.
• Place 3 tablespoons white icing in each of 3 separate bowls. Tint each a different color and cover with plastic wrap (see Cook's Note). Place 1/4 cup white icing in another bowl, covering the remaining white icing with plastic wrap so it does not dry out. Drizzle one of the colored icings (about 1 tablespoon) onto the 1/4 cup white icing and swirl with a toothpick.
• Next, dip the surface of a cookie in the swirled icing and remove slowly, allowing any excess to drip off. Shake the cookie over the bowl of icing to remove any excess. Gently smooth the icing with a toothpick to fill in any gaps, if necessary. Place the finished cookies on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Use the tip of the toothpick to pop any bubbles that appear. Drizzle more colored icing as needed. Repeat this process with the next 2 colors and the remaining white icing until all the cookies are decorated. Let set for 30 minutes. Store single layers of cookies, with parchment in between, in a tightly sealed container for up to 1 week.

LITTLE LAMB COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the cookies: Sift flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a large bowl.
• Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, then vanilla. Refrigerate dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies using a 5-inch lamb cookie cutter, rerolling scraps once. Transfer to a baking sheet, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Bake until edges just start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely.
• Decorate the cookies: Transfer icing to a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe an outline of icing around the edges, then "flood" each cookie with more icing to cover. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Let cookies dry completely before tying a pink or blue ribbon around each lamb's neck if desired.