- 2 sticks (1 cup or 8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- Pink and/or red paste food coloring
- 1 large egg white
- 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add sugar and continue to beat for another minute. Mix in extracts and salt.
- Reduce speed to low; slowly mix in flour until dough starts to come together (do not overmix and if you don't need all of the flour don't use it - the dough can be quite dry and difficult to pull together in certain climates!).
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead just to bring together. Divide into 6 balls of various sizes. Knead varying amounts of pink or red food coloring into 5 of the balls to tint dough various shades of pink and leave 1 ball neutral.
- Place each ball between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment paper; roll out to 5-inch squares. (Squares will be of varying thicknesses.) Trim edges of squares with a knife to make straight. Freeze squares on parchment paper on baking sheets 20 minutes.
- Whisk egg white with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Brush egg wash over surface of 1 square. Top with another square; brush with egg wash. Continue stacking remaining squares, alternating colors and thicknesses, and brushing with egg wash between each layer.
- Let assembled block of dough stand until it reaches room temperature. Trim sides with a sharp knife to make straight.
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- Using a long sharp knife, slice block into 1/4-inch-thick strips (you should have about 20 strips of dough).
- Cut each strip in half crosswise to make 40 (2 1/2-inch-long) cookies.
- Transfer, striped side up, to baking sheets lined with parchment paper; freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Bake until edges turn golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
- Melt chocolate in a pan over low heat with 1 tablespoon unsalted butter.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes then dip the ends of cookies into chocolate.
- Place on tray covered with parchment paper and refrigerate until serving.
- Seems like a lot of work, but its not! Turns out wonderful and can be used for showers, parties, weddings, or wrap a piece of ribbon around a few cookies to use a place setting.
Please log in or sign up to write a review or discussion.
Rating:
emmytaylor01 (8 discussions) on Aug 17, 2006 at 09:30 PM
Complicated but worth it in the end because it's so delicious and pretty.
Rating:
katherine02 (62 discussions) on Aug 8, 2006 at 10:52 AM
I made these for a retirement party that we were having for a co-worker. Everyone went crazy over these.
