Tips to get you started:

· Do not substitute margarine for butter. It does not cook at all well! The resulting cookie is greasy and flat.

· Make the dough the evening before you intend to bake the cookies, this will allow you to clean out the mixing equipment to reuse for the filling if you’re like me and only have one mixing bowl.

Tools: Rolling pin, mixing bowl(s), mixer, rubber spatula, plastic wrap, champagne flute or small round cookie cutter (about the size of a 50-cent piece), plate, fork, cookie sheets and cooling racks.

Prep time: 40-60 minutes.

Cook time: 30-40 minutes.

Serves: 24

Ingredients:

1 ¼ Cups salted butter at room temperature, divided per recipe

2 Cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the rolling surface

1/3 Cup heavy whipping cream

¾ Cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 egg yolk

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ Teaspoon food coloring of your choice, optional

½ Cup granulated sugar

Part one: In a blender bowl using a whisk attachment, whip the butter until it is dispersed around the bowl and begins to get a bit fluffy and whipped looking, about 1 minute on high speed. Add the whipping cream to the bowl with the butter and whip to combine, about 1 minute on high speed.

Part two: To the bowl with the whipped butter and cream, slowly add the flour mixing on low to medium speed until the resulting mixture has lumps of a pea size and all the ingredients are incorporated but not over mixed. You’ll need to scrape down the sides and bottom at least one time to make sure everything gets mixed in.

Part three: Once the dough has been mixed, form it into a ball and “walk” it around the mixing bowl with your hand to pick up any residual flour and bits of dough. Work the extra bits into the dough. Divide the ball into two even balls and wrap in plastic wrap or a large Ziploc bag, sealing the dough in the plastic so that the moisture does not escape, but can even out throughout the dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours.

Part four: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Remove one ball of dough from refrigeration and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. While the dough rests, place the granulated sugar in a large plate and set aside. Dust a clean flat surface like a large cutting board or counter top with a generous amount of flour. Place the ball of dough on the floured surface and dust the top with a little bit of flour and begin to roll out the dough, working in a star pattern to evenly roll the dough. When the dough is between 1/8-1/4 inches thick, you’re ready to cut the cookies.

Part five: Cut the dough with your cookie cutter of choice, I use the “traditional” champagne flute. Work as close together as you can without compromising the circular shape. Place the cut rounds into the sugar in the plate you set up earlier. Gently pull the rounds through the sugar and move place them on the cookie sheet(s). Prick each round with a fork 3 times, working from top to bottom. The cookies can be placed close together, leaving about ¼ inch in between the edges for baking. Once the pan is full, bake the cookies for 7-10 minutes. They are done when they look puffy and are not browned, and smell like the flour has started to cook. When the cookies are done baking, gently move them to cooling racks.

Part six: If there is residual dough, set it aside while you roll and cut the second ball of dough and bake the first batch of cookies, repeating as needed to bake all cookie rounds. Use the residual dough from both balls to form a new ball, roll this out and cut, sugar, prick and bake the resulting rounds repeating until all dough is used and cookies are baked.

Part seven: When the cookies have cooled, make the filling. Place remaining ¼ cup butter in the bowl of your mixer and turn on low-medium, add the powdered sugar slowly to the butter until it is mostly incorporated. Separate an egg and add only the yolk to the butter and sugar in the mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and food coloring and mix well.

Part eight: Using a butter knife spread about ½ teaspoon of filling mixture onto the bottom (the side that baked touching the cookie sheet) of a cookie round, and gently sandwich it with another round without frosting, making sure the bottom of the found is touching the filling. Create sandwiches out of all rounds and enjoy! Refrigerate cookies if keeping more than a day or two, or in hot weather.

Tiny chefs at home? They can:

· Help measure ingredients

· Dip the rounds in the granulated sugar

· Prick the rounds with a fork before baking

Nutrition information: Total Calories: 166 // Total Fat: 11.2 g // Cholesterol: 37.6 mg // Sodium: 69.7 mg // Total Carbohydrates: 15.5 g // Protein: 1.3 g

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.