(NAPSA) – A Thanksgiving feast is not complete without dessert. And such a sweet ending can be a terrific way for youngsters to join in the preparation. Decorating these simple, ‘handy’ cookies can be a light, tasty way to top a scrumptious meal-with some help from the little ones.
Ingredients
For The Dough:
- 1 cup butter or margarine, softened, 2 sticks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
For The Decorations:
- 1 cup vanilla frosting prepared, from a 16 oz. can
- Assorted colored sugars
- mini chocolate chips
- Candy corn
- Red fruit leather
Special Aids:
- Hand-shaped template or cookie cutter
- Small resealable plastic bag
- Scissors
Instructions
Making The Cookies:
- In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add egg and beat for 1 minute longer. Beat in vanilla just until incorporated.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Using a wooden spoon, stir butter mixture, one-third at a time, into flour mixture until blended. (The mixture will be crumbly.)
- Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray 2 baking sheets with vegetable cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a template made by cutting out a tracing of your hand or a hand-shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies.
- Transfer cutouts, 2 inches apart, to the prepared baking sheets. Reroll scraps for additional cookies. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, 8-10 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Decorating The Cookies:
- Spoon frosting into a resealable plastic bag; snip off 1 corner. Pipe a feather design onto each finger.
- Sprinkle 'feathers' with colored sugar. Pipe a dot for the 'eye' on each thumb. Place a mini chocolate chip on each frosting 'eye.' Cut a candy corn for each nose and attach to thumb with a little frosting.
- Using scissors, cut the fruit leather on its backing paper into 2-inch pieces; cut out 'wattles.'
- Remove paper from fruit leather. Using a dab of frosting, attach 'wattles' to thumbs. Let stand until frosting is set, about 1 hour.
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