Angel Cookies

This year, being the first holiday season after I graduated from culinary school with a degree in baking and pastry, what does everyone in my family want for Christmas? Cookies. Well, can't argue with a classic. I decided to go with good old fashioned sugar cookies and even though I did various holiday shapes (Christmas trees, stars, ornaments) the angels seem to be the most popular and disappeared quickly. So when my grandparents asked for a special secret box of cookies just for themselves, I set about baking fleets of angels.




Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Alton Brown

3 cups All-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. milk


Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg, vanilla, and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Divide dough in half and roll each portion between two pieces of wax paper to about 1/4 inch think. Stack both sheets of dough onto a sheet pan and refrigerate for 1 hour or place in freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove dough and peel off top layer of wax paper. Use any shaped cookie cutters and stamp out your cookies. This dough can be reformed and rerolled, chilling in between. I baked my cookies on a Silpat so that there was no chance of sticking, but parchment paper works just as well. Bake between 7 and 9 minutes, rotating the trays about half way through. Allow to cool for two minutes on the sheet pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Royal Icing
from Alton Brown

3 ounces pasteurized egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar


In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners' sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

I chose to replace the vanilla with almond extract for a little extra layer of flavor, but these cookies would have also been great iced with a lemon flavoring. I frosted their little wings and dipped them in coarse sanding sugar.