Well with Valentines coming up, I could not resist the bright pink sanding sugar. After buying it, I was on the hunt for a recipe that uses it. I have decorated sugar cookies and russian teacakes with sanding sugar, so I narrowed it down to a cookie recipe.
I found a recipe that is basically a butter cookie with mini chips mixed in. The dough is made into a log, chilled and wrapped with an thin layer of dough and then covered in the sugar. These do have some crunch to them and they are perfect for dunking in hot tea or cold milk. This recipe makes about 6 dz small cookies.
Aristocrats
adapted from Gourmets Best Desserts
Ingredients
3 oz of mini chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup and 2 tbs of butter (or 1 & 3/4 sticks)
2 eggs
1/2 cup colored sugar crystals
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add one egg and beat for 30 seconds.
Using a wooden spoon, mix in the flour in 1/4 cup increments. The mixture should form a dough when all flour is completely mixed in. Split the dough in half and seal one of the pieces in plastic wrap or foil and chill for 30 minutes.
While that is chilling, take the other piece of dough and mix in the mini chips. Once evenly distributed, split dough mound into 2 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll and form each piece into a log. Each log should be even in diameter and be 10 inches long. Set aside.
Then take out the chilled dough. Dust a flat surface with flour and roll dough into a rectangle, measuring 11 x 9. Cut the dough in half , lengthwise, so you have 2 pieces. Each piece should be 4 1/2 X 11. Beat remaining egg in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, cover the face up side of one piece of dough with the egg wash.
Place one log in the very center of the piece of the dough brushed with the egg wash. Roll the rectangle around the log, sealing ends and seam. Brush again with the egg wash. Then sprinkle the colored sugar on a piece of wax paper and roll log in sugar until covered. Wrap in foil and put in fridge. Repeat the same process with the remaining log and dough rectangle, so you have 2 logs chilling in the fridge. They will need to be in the fridge for at least 4 hours to firm up to the consistency you want.
During the last 1/2 hour of the chilling time, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Also, line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Once the logs have completed the chilling stage, remove from fridge and slice each log into 36 slices of even thickness.
Place each cookie on a baking sheet, spacing about 1/2 apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or when bottom starts to brown. Remove pan from oven and place cookies on a rack to cool.
Notes and Tips:
1. Since the cookie dough is sealed at the end, your end pieces will not be as nice as the other slices.
2. The recipe also states to use chopped walnuts in the dough instead of chocolate chips, use 2/3 of a cup. For variety, you can do 1/2 of each.
**LAST YEAR: Celebrity Factor Cookies**