Snowflake Cookies

Christmas may be over but holiday spirit is still up until school opens. I haven't  made holiday cookies yet. It's time to bake some Snowflake cookies to celebrate New Year. 

Nothing is more comforting than a home baked holiday cookies served with a cup of steamy hot chocolate or coffee for cold days. I replaced half whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour to make these cookies more hearty. The recipe is same as ginger bread cookies. Decorating cookies may seem simple task but it is quite challenging. It requires lot of patience and concentration. I tried to use edible marker to draw fine lines, but it didn't work well at all. I just couldn't write on cookies. Big sigh! So I did my best to pipe directly on cookies with icing. 

Ingredients~ 
1  1/2 cups of  whole wheat flour
1  1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground ginger 
1/4tsp ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp milk
3/4 to 1 cup dark brown Sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar for icing + 2 tsp water 

Special equipment ~ 
Electric hand blender
Large bowl and medium bowl
Sieve
Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
2 large baking tray
Parchment paper
Rolling pan
Cooling rack
Piping bag

Method~

Sift together the first 7 ingredients and set aside. In a big bowl cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer until very smooth and creamy. Add milk at last and stir well. Gradually add the dry ingredients, 1/4 cup at a time and mix everything together with a spatula or wooden spoon until a firm dough forms.  

Transfer dough onto a well floured board and just knead it lightly to form a smooth ball. Divide the dough in 5 pieces and wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit and line parchment paper on the two baking sheets. Take two large pieces of parchment paper and place one on the counter. Put one piece of the dough in the center and dust with flour both sides. Place another piece of parchment paper on top. Using a rolling pin roll it out until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick (just eyeball it). This dough is firm to work without any hassle.

Using a snowflake cookie cutter cut out your shapes. I have used medium cookie cutter.Carefully lift cookies using a blunt knife and  place the cookies onto the parchment lined baking sheets and bake for about 10-12  minutes or until light brown.

Remove from the baking sheet and transfer cookies on wire racks. Let them cool completely. You can serve them as is or decorate with icing. This recipe makes about 30-32 cookies.

For icing cookies~
In a small bowl mix powdered sugar and few drops of water. Add more drop of water as needed. It should be thick enough to pipe. Spoon icing in a disposable piping bag and press it down to the bottom. Make sure there is no air in the bag. Just snip off the tiny tip and  decorate as you wish. Let them dry completely before storing. Munch them with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate!

May this new year glow with good cheer, joy and peace. Happy New Year 2016!!