A Very Special Christmas Cookie

Have you noticed how cookies seem to be associated with family Christmas traditions? Cookies and hot chocolate, cookies and cider, cookies and friends, cookie exchanges, cookies for Santa...... the list goes on. It seems every family has their favorites, many have been handed down for generations.
One of our favorite cookies is a sandwich cookie. My mother, daughter and daughter-in-law always look for this one! I have adapted it for a Christmas variation. I hope you will try it and that it will become one of your family favorites.

The cookies on the upper right of the photo are the original recipe. The other is my Christmas variation.

I always double or triple this recipe because it takes two cookies for each sandwich cookie.

Butter Cream Sandwich Cookies

1 cup butter (PLEASE- not margarine)  softened to room temperature

1/3 cup of heavy cream

2 cups flour

Granulated sugar

Mix butter, cream and flour thoroughly.  Wrap in waxed paper and chill about an hour.

Roll on a lightly floured pastry cloth about 1/8^th inch thick.  Cut with a 1 ½ inch round cookie cutter .  Dredge in granulated sugar.  Prick the top twice with a fork (to make two rows of tine marks).

Place on ungreased  cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 until puffy and just lightly brown on the bottom, 6-8 minutes.  Note:  these break very easily.  Let cool for a few minutes before moving to a rack. 

When cool, spread frosting about 1/3 inch thick and top with another cookie.  (Frost them on a flat surface so they don’t break.)

Frosting

3/4 cup soft butter

2 ¼ cups of powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla*

Beat until smooth. 

Tint ½ the frosting green and half pink.

Diane’s variation: Chocolate Peppermint Butter Creams

Add a drop or two of peppermint extract to taste.

Melt 1 good quality 4.75 oz dark chocolate candy bar

Crush candy canes or peppermint candies to equal 1 cup.

Drizzle chocolate over filled cookies and sprinkle peppermint candy on top