New Year's Cookies
Description
Homemade baked goods for tea. Work the dough quickly so the butter doesn’t melt too much and the dough doesn’t get very soft. Always chill the shaped pieces in the refrigerator before baking so they hold their shape well in the oven and keep it after baking. I used ready-made icing eyes, but you can also pipe them with white and black melted chocolate. The baking is done. Serve at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare all necessary ingredients ahead of time. The butter and the egg should be at room temperature.
- 2
Step 2
Cut the softened butter into pieces, transfer it to a deep bowl, sift in (or sprinkle in) the icing sugar, and work it with a fork or whisk until you have a smooth, creamy mixture.
- 3
Step 3
Beat in one large egg and keep whisking.
- 4
Step 4
Add a pinch of salt, add vanilla as directed, and measure the amount of flour you need.
- 5
Step 5
Knead the dough; it will be smooth and elastic. Divide into two equal parts and leave one as is.
- 6
Step 6
Into the other portion, add cocoa powder and knead thoroughly until the dough has an even color. How much powder you use depends on how rich a chocolate tone you want.
- 7
Step 7
Roll out the white dough to a thickness of 3 millimetres; the easiest way is to do it between two sheets of parchment paper. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. Choose the size of the hearts as you prefer.
- 8
Step 8
You need to do the same with chocolate-colored dough. There should be an equal number of hearts in each color.
- 9
Step 9
Next, line a baking sheet with parchment and arrange the cut-outs in different colours on it—this way your little dogs will come out both light and chocolate. Cut the remaining hearts almost in half and stick them on top as ears. From the leftover dough, roll small balls and attach them for the eyes and the nose. Between the ears at the top, make a hole for the ribbons. Chill the baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190–200 degrees. Bake the cookies for about 10–12 minutes on upper and lower heat; do not turn on convection under any circumstances. Watch the cookies closely—they must not brown or yellow.
- 10
Step 10
Cool the baked cookies on a rack, thread a colourful ribbon through each hole, and tie them at the top. You can hang these little dogs on a Christmas tree for decoration.
- 11
Step 11
New Year’s cookies “Little Dog” are ready! Wishing you warm family holidays!