Sugar Cookies Pastel Snowflakes
Duckie Ž
Recipe from the cookbook, Lighten Up - The Art of Low Fat Gourmet
Cooking by
Mary E. Ross
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon butter flavoring, Butter Buds, Molly McButter, etc.
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon malted milk powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 cup Land O Lakes Light Butter (5.5 grams fat per tablespoon) or
other
light butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup nonfat sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites
cooking spray if not using non-stick baking sheets
1 recipe White Icing
paste or liquid food coloring in pastel colors, sky blue, violet,
green,
pink, mauve tubes of gel frosting in same colors and white
*Paste food coloring and gel frosting tubes are available at grocery
and
specialty stores wherever baking and cake decorating supplies are
sold.
1. Stir flour, baking powder, butter flavoring, malted milk powder and
nutmeg together in a bowl until thoroughly combined; set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sour cream with sugar until
smooth.
Blend in vanilla and egg whites, beating again until smooth. Gradually
add
flour mixture, mixing until just well combined.
3. Enclose dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours or
over
night. The longer the dough is refrigerated the easier it is to
handle.
4. Preheat oven to 325? F. Working with about a third of the dough at
a
time, roll out dough on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth to
about
1/4-inch thickness. (Keep remainder of dough refrigerated until ready
to
roll out.) Cut out cookies with floured 2- to 4-inch snow flake
cutters into
desired shapes. Carefully transfer cookies to baking sheets lightly
sprayed
with cooking spray. Before baking, sprinkle cookies with granulated
sugar if
desired.
5. Bake cookies until lightly golden brown around edges (10 to 12
minutes).
Let cookies stand about 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool.
After
cookies have cooled, using a paint or sponge brush (a sponge brush
works the
best ) or pastry knife spread base coating of white or pastel colored
White
Icing on cookie. Add a small amount of water to icing to achieve a
thinner
consistency.
6. While icing is still wet, draw lines of ready made gel icing across
surface of cookie. You can make lines horizontally radiating out from
center
of cookie. Also, try alternating line of colored icing with white or
decorate with dots. Using a thin wooden skewer, draw it through lines
of gel
icing in opposite directions or in alternating swirls.
Yield: about 12 5-6 inch cookies with 2 tablespoons White Icing each
at
approximately 200 calories; 2.2 grams total fat; 1.4 grams saturated
fat; 7
milligrams cholesterol; 42 grams carbohydrate; 0.5 gram dietary fiber;
3.7
grams protein; 141 milligrams sodium.
Cooks Note: If you can't find the color of gels your want, tint some
of the
icing in the color desired and pipe through a pastry bag.
White Icing
1 16-ounce package confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder*
1/3 cup warm water
*Meringue powder is available at specialty stores wherever baking and
cake
decorating supplies are sold.
1. Beat sugar with meringue powder and water on until thick and white,
about
7 minutes.
2. Icing may be tinted with food coloring at this point. Keep icing
covered
with plastic wrap to prevent drying out.
3. Use small metal icing spatula, paint brushes, paint sponges and/ or
decorating bags with small writing tips. (Thin frosting with a little
warm
water to obtain the right spreading or piping consistency.)
Yield: about 3 cup at approximately 18 calories per teaspoon; 0 fat; 0
cholesterol; 4.5 grams carbohydrate; 0 dietary fiber; 2 milligrams
sodium.