Mothers Day Tea Cookies Recipes

MARTHA'S MOTHER'S COOKIES

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine butter, cream cheese, flour, salt, egg yolk, and zest, if using. Process until smooth. Transfer to resealable plastic bag and flatten with the palms of your hands into a 6-inch square. Seal, and chill for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days. (Refrigerate egg white in a sealed container until ready to bake the cookies.)
• Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured work surface. Rolling from the center outward, roll into a 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Fold in thirds, as for a business letter. Lightly dust rolling pin with flour, and then roll dough into a 16-by-8-inch rectangle. Fold again in thirds, using a dough scraper, if necessary, to release the dough from work surface. Repeat rolling and folding once more, then roll out 1/8 inch thick
• Drape dough over rolling pin and transfer to a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, place 2 racks just above and below the center of the oven, and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.
• Lightly beat egg white until frothy. Place about 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Remove dough from refrigerator. Leaving it on the baking sheet, use a 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or fine rimmed glass to cut out cookies. Brush each cookie on one side with egg white. Place a few cookies at a time in sugar, egg-white side down, to coat. Transfer to prepared baking sheets, sugared-side up. Repeat with remaining cookies, leaving 1/4-inch between cookies. The dough scraps can be gathered together, and rolled out once.
• Bake until shiny and risen, rotating pans halfway through baking, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

OLD-FASHIONED TEA COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Roll dough into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets; flatten slightly with fingers. , Bake until edges are golden brown, 17-20 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

MOTHER'S DAY TEA COOKIES

Steps:

• *Tip: make your own "instant" rose water jam by stirring a small amount (about 1-2 teaspoons, to taste) rose water into your favorite homemade or store bought jam.
• Preheat oven to 365 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, food processor or KitchenAid stand up mixer, combine the butter, sugar, salt, extract, lemon zest and eggs.
• Stir in the flour until incorporated.
• Gather cookie dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
• Remove from refrigerator and roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/4" thickness.
• Cut into 2" rounds and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (I used the cap to one of the plastic spice bottles in the pantry. It measures 2 1/8").
• Spoon 1/4 teaspoon (no more than that) fruit jam in center of each dough round, pinch sides of cookie to close (see photo above). Note: the jam should show on both sides of the impression.
• Bake 8-10 minutes until *very lightly* browned. Rotate the baking sheet at the halfway mark. I noticed a few of the cookies started to come apart in the center where they were pinched. I carefully pinched them again. I'm confident in time my dough pinching skills will improve.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a covered container.