Time to make cookies for Chanukah!

Chanukah Star Cookies, Hamantaschen base

This recipe makes 15 5-inch large stars, 25 3-inch small stars or about 20 Hamantaschen.

Ingredients

1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 egg

2 3/4 scant cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Beat until consistency for spreading, adding 1/4 tsp. milk as needed.

Divide frosting in half. To one half, mix in 1-2 drops blue food coloring. Have a few small bowls of colored sprinkles, sugars in different colors, and mini chocolate chips to decorate the cookies. This is a fun dessert for guests to do at a Chanukah party. 

Directions

Cream butter in food processor or with beaters in a large bowl with sugars until mixture is fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add rest of the ingredients. Cream until dough forms a ball. Roll out dough to 1/4" between two sheets of plastic wrap. You will need two pieces 2 1/2 feet long. You may want to roll out the dough in two sections. Place rolled-out dough on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes in the refrigerator until dough hardens. Preheat oven to 350° F. Use Chanukah-cookie themed cutters to make the cookies or a 3-inch floured glass to press out Hamantaschen. Refrigerate cut-out cookies again for 15 minutes before baking. Space cookies 1 inch apart. Bake until edges begin to brown 15-20 minutes. If cookies spread too much, reshape with original cookie cutter immediately from the oven. Decorate with cake frosting and sprinkles.

Note: plastic cookie cutters have not worked well for me. I use metal. The cookie cutter can be dipped in flour if it becomes sticky and doesn't give a sharp image.

Cream cheese frosting

Mix 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla 

1/2 tsp. almond extract, optional

1 T. Milk

Stained Glass Cookies

Using the previous ingredients list and directions, place unbaked cookies on parchment-covered baking sheet.

To make stained glass cookies, crush hard candies in different colors and add one layer of candy to cut-out areas in each cookie. Bake cookies for five minutes at 350° F. Continue to bake until candy has melted completely about 5 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet. The candy will harden as the cookie cools.

Myrna Ossin published "What to Do with Your Leftover Matzah, the Fifth Question." (Amazon.com)