I love a recipe that does double duty.This recipe is from Epicurious, and I’ve made it for a long time. On their website, there are more variations, but these are two favorites. Enjoy!
Basic Butter Cookie Dough
4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
In large bowl of a standing electric mixer beat together butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in yolks, 1 at a time, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in flour gradually, beating dough until just combined well. Makes about 3 pounds dough.
Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1/2 prepared Basic Butter Cookie Dough at room temperature
about 1/2 cup sugar
In a bowl soak cranberries in warm water to cover 15 minutes. Drain cranberries well and chop fine.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In bowl of a standing electric mixer beat cranberries, oats, and zest into basic dough until just combined well. Form dough into 1-inch balls and roll balls in sugar to coat. Arrange balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets and flatten to 2-inch rounds with bottom of a glass wrapped in wax paper to prevent sticking.
Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until pale golden, about 12 minutes, and cool on racks. Cookies may be stored between layers of wax paper in airtight containers up to 6 weeks frozen.
Makes about 7 dozen cookies.
Jelly Bowl Cookies
1/2 prepared Basic Butter Cookie Dough at room temperature
3/4 cup strawberry, apricot, or raspberry jam, strained fine
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Form level teaspoons of dough into balls and arrange about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. With your thumb make an indentation in center of each ball of dough and fill with about 1/4 teaspoon jam.
Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until edges are pale golden, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 2 minutes and transfer to racks to cool completely. Cookies may be stored between layers of wax paper in airtight containers up to 6 weeks frozen.
Makes 8 dozen cookies.
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