Election Day Cookies Recipes

ELECTION DAY COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Gradually add flour and salt; mix well. Divide in half; flatten and wrap each portion in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until easy to handle. , On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. donkey and elephant cookie cutters. Place 2 in. apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. , Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat the butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Tint some frosting red and some blue; leave some white. Frost cookies; decorate as desired.

ELECTION DAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mix the vanilla and egg with a fork in a small bowl.
• Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed until the butter has picked up the sugars, about 30 seconds. (If using a hand mixer, beat about 2 minutes.) Increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly creamy, stopping halfway to scrape the bowl, about 1 minute (about 3 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Reduce the speed to low, slowly add in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture a heaping cup at a time in 2 additions, stopping a few times to scrape the bowl and beaters. (If using a hand mixer, increase the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning.) Once all the flour is just incorporated, add the confetti stars, increase the speed to medium (higher with a hand mixer) and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 2 minutes (about 5 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide the dough into 2 even pieces, each about 11 ounces. Shape each piece into a 6-inch square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.
• Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Take the dough pieces out of the refrigerator and let soften until just pliable but still cool and firm, about 15 minutes.
• Dust a piece of parchment with flour. Dust one square of the dough with flour and roll it to about 1/4 inch thick. Lift the dough occasionally by sliding a metal spatula or bench scraper underneath to make sure it isn't sticking to the parchment. Cut out cookies into stars and letters with 3-inch cutters, as close together as possible; transfer to one of the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between them. Gather together the scraps and repeat with the remaining dough. Sprinkle more stars over the top of the cookies and gently press down so they stick. Freeze the cookies on the baking sheet while you repeat with the other dough. Freeze the cookies about 10 minutes before baking.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets on a cooling rack, about 30 minutes.

VALENTINE'S DAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• For the cookies: Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and mix until well combined, scraping down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, about 2 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll the dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper until it's about 1/8-inch thick. Using heart-shaped cookie cutters, cut the dough and place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart (a small off-set spatula is really helpful when transferring the cookies). After both pieces of dough have been rolled out and cut, combine the dough scraps and re-roll and cut to utilize as much of the dough as possible.
• Bake until the cookies are just barely golden around the edges, rotating halfway through, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
• For the icing: Meanwhile, whisk the confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. The consistency should be similar to that of slightly thinned yogurt and should coat the back of a spoon. Adjust with additional confectioners' sugar or milk, if needed.
• Place 2 tablespoons of icing into each of 2 small bowls. Add 4 drops of red gel food coloring to one bowl and 2 drops of pink gel food coloring to the other and stir until fully incorporated. Using a small spoon, drizzle a small amount of each color over the white icing and then repeatedly drag a toothpick through the icing until you create a marbled effect.
• Working with one cooled cookie at a time, carefully dip it face-side down into the icing and allow any excess to drip off before placing the cooking back on the cooling rack. Add additional red and pink icing to the bigger bowl of icing as needed to maintain the marbling effect. Decorate with sprinkles (if using) before allowing to the icing to fully set, about 4 to 5 hours.

APPLE'S RESTAURANT ELECTION DAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cream butter, gradually add sugars, beating well.
• Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
• In separate bowl: combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt - stir well.
• Add to butter mixture, beat at low speed until blended.
• Stir in toffee bits, chocolate chips.
• Drop dough by heaping tablespoons (ice cream scoop works great) onto ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 10-15 minutes or until cookie is lightly browned.
• Let cool slightly on sheets, then cool completely on wire racks.

ELECTION DAY CAKE

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar with the water in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Place the dried fruit in a large bowl. Add the sugar mixture and whiskey; stir and set aside.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine warm water and milk.
• Combine yeast with 1 cup of whole wheat flour and combine it with the milk mixture. Sprinkle the remaining whole wheat flour on top. Set aside to allow the yeast to ferment until the yeast breaks through the surface of the flour, approximately 30 minutes.
• Lightly spray and flour an 8 inch tube pan.
• Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and set aside. Drain the fruit mixture; reserve for the syrup for later use as a glaze.
• Beat together the butter and the remaining 1 cup of granulated sugar until it is light in texture. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Add the flour/yeast mixture; mix until fully combined. Add the remaining sifted dry ingredients. The batter will be stiff. Stir in the drained fruit.
• Place the batter in the pan, cover, and set in a warm area to allow the cake to rise, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare the glaze: In a medium sized bowl, combine the 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons of the syrup reserved from the drained fruit. Stir until smooth and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake cake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes and transfer cake to a wire rack to cool. When cool, lightly brush with reserved syrup and top with glaze.