Ritas Holiday Sugar Cookies Recipes

HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into three 10-in. rolls; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm., Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks., In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, milk and food coloring until smooth; transfer to a resealable plastic bag; drizzle over cookies in the shape of a Christmas tree. Place one Red Hot at the top of each tree.

HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar, mixing until pale yellow and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla and eggs and mix well. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.
• Using slightly wet hands, roll the dough into heaping tablespoon-size balls (or use a small cookie scoop) and place them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake just until the edges start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. (Bake one sheet at a time for even cooking and browning.) Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool.
• The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

HOLIDAY SWIRLED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium high, add the vanilla and egg and beat until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just combined. Shape the dough into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Generously dust a work surface with confectioners' sugar. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch, dusting with more confectioners' sugar as needed. (Return the dough to the refrigerator if it gets too soft.) Cut out shapes with a 2-inch round cookie cutter and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 1 hour.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies, rotating the pans halfway through, until lightly browned around the edges, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets.
• For the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 7 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding up to 8 tablespoons water if necessary to make a smooth icing that thickly coats the back of a spoon.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment and set a cooling rack on top.
• Put 1/4 cup icing into each of 2 small bowls. Add 9 drops red food coloring to one bowl and stir until evenly combined. Add 2 drops green food coloring to the second bowl and stir until evenly combined. Pour the remaining white icing into a clean rimmed baking sheet and spread or shake to evenly coat it. Drizzle the red icing all over the white, then drizzle the green icing over both. One at a time, put the cookies face-side down in the baking sheet icing. Take the cookies out one at a time, shaking gently to let excess icing drip off, and place right-side up on the prepared cooling rack. Decorate with edible glitter or sprinkles if desired. Let the icing harden completely before serving, about 1 hour.

RITA'S ULTRA-LITE PECAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
• In a mixer on medium-low speed, beat the egg whites until frothy, about 2 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to high, add salt and whip to stiff, but not dry peaks. Reduce the speed to medium. Add the vanilla and then the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Whip to glossy peaks, about 2 minutes. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and the pecans. Drop by the tablespoon onto cookie sheets lined with parchment. Bake 45 minutes. Turn oven off and leave in oven overnight without opening the oven door.
• Tip: To reduce calories further, you can scale back on the sugar, chocolate chips, and pecans. I recommend making them the first time with the full amount of sugar to get a feel for how much you want to cut back.

FROSTED HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, then beat in egg.
• Add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Divide the dough in half, pat into flat rectangles, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
• Divide each dough parcel in half, and roll out to 1/8-inch thickness between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line four cookie sheets with parchment paper, sprinkling with a little flour if the dough seems sticky. Cut out shapes from the rolled and chilled dough and place on prepared sheets 1-inch apart. Bake until golden around the edges, 8 to 13 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, prepare the royal icing: in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk until stiff and glossy.
• To tint the frosting, divide into small bowls. Cover the ones you aren't using with plastic wrap; the frosting dries out very quickly. Use a rubber spatula to stir in desired food coloring. Though not necessary, it makes life easier if you make two versions of each color - one that is thick to pipe the outline on the cookie, and one that is thinned out slightly with a little water to flood the outline. Transfer frosting to piping bags fitted with very small round tips (sizes 1 to 2 work best).
• Pipe frosting onto cooled cookies and let set, at least 2 hours. Or use a pastry of paint brush to decorate cookies with the frosting.