Recipe: Rather Sweet Bakery Kimmie Cookies with Butter Frosting (Scandinavian)

KIMMIE COOKIES

"These light, melt-in-your-mouth cookies are named for my good friend Kim, who started baking them as a child with her Scandinavian grandmother. While Kim makes them with her kids during the Christmas holidays, I think they are great for a spring or summer party. I tint the butter icing a light pink or pale blue. They always disappear quickly: kids love them, adults can't resist them, and I never tire of them."



2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar for the cookies, plus optional 1/2 cup sugar for sprinkling
2 teaspoons pure almond extract*
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
Butter Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets with cooking spray or butter, or line with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and the 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the almond extract and salt.

Add the flour and beat on low speed just until thoroughly combined.

Using your hands, roll the dough into 1-inch balls.** (Put the 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow bowl and roll each cookie in the sugar to coat, if you like.) Place the cookies about 1/2-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and flatten by lightly pressing down on the dough with the bottom of a juice glass. (The cookies should be about 1/4-inch thick.)

Bake until the bottoms begin to turn golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Don't let the tops brown or the cookies will be overdone. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and frost while the cookies are slightly warm.

BUTTER FROSTING



1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
4 tablespoons (or more) whole milk, slightly
warmed
2 cups (or more) powdered sugar
2 or 3 drops food coloring of your choice
(optional)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the 1/3 cup butter, vanilla, salt, and warm milk on low speed until combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until combined. If the icing seems too runny to spread, add a few tablespoons more of powdered sugar. If it seems too thick, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency.

DO IT EARLY:
Like most cookies, these are at their very best eaten the day they are baked. You can make the dough and stow it in a container in the refrigerator up to 1 week before baking. Make the icing and bake the cookies the day of your party.

*Some people dislike the taste of almond extract, but I have found that even avowed almond extract haters love these cookies without detecting their almond flavor. The extract lends a subtle depth of flavor, not a pronounced almond taste. Make the cookies once with the extract and see if the naysayers react. If they do - I'd be surprised - you'll have more cookies for yourself. Next time you make them, you can substitute vanilla extract for the almond.

**Using a 1-inch-diameter metal ice cream scoop eliminates the drudgery from portioning out cookie dough, and insures that your cookies will be of uniform size and bake at the same rate. The best scoops are lever-activated and push the dough out and onto baking sheets quickly and easily.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies
Source: Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman