Simple butter cookies with a hint of lemon are colored orange and cut like jack-o'-lanterns. Use the tip of a knife to cut the shapes freehand and your jack-o'-lanterns will have lots of personality. They take on added luster—literally!—when you crush and melt hard candies in the spaces for the eyes, nose, and grinning mouth. The stained glass effect is beautiful and surprisingly effective given the simplicity of the process. Use lemon drops for a yellow gleam and to ramp up the flavor, or, if you prefer, try butterscotch candies for an orange glow. Let your kids work off some energy crushing the candies while you prepare the dough.
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, foil, or a Silpat mat (not wax paper, which will stick).
Step 2
2. Unwrap the candies if wrapped, put them in a heavy ziplock bag, and crush them into powder with the flat side of a meat tenderizer or the bottom of a saucepan.
Step 3
- Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy, and then blend in the egg, lemon zest, if using, lemon juice, and food coloring. Begin with 6 drops of red and 5 drops of yellow liquid coloring or a dab of orange paste; add more to achieve your desired shade. Stir well until fully combined.
Step 4
4. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl, and mix well.
Step 5
5. Roll half of the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut out 8 big jack-o'-lantern shapes with a cookie cutter, or freehand with the tip of a paring knife. Make short, fat pumpkins about 4 inches wide by 3 inches high, or make tall, thin pumpkins about 4 inches tall and 2 to 3 inches wide. You want some variety here! Use the knife to cut out big eyes, nose, and mouth in each (don't do a lot of teeth - they tend to break off). Keep in mind that you want the eyes, nose, and mouth to be wide enough to hold the melted candy. Carefully lift the pumpkins with a spatula and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. Use the tip of the paring knife to push back the eye, nose, and mouth openings to make them as wide as possible without losing the bridges of dough between the features. Repeat with the remaining dough half.
Step 6
6. With the tip of a small spoon, sprinkle candy powder generously into the eyes, nose, and mouth openings, directly to the parchment. Try to keep the candy off the surface of the cookies.
Step 7
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, watching carefully. Remove as soon as the candy has melted; don't let the surface of the cookies brown. They should be just set and very pale.
Step 8
8. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets, or carefully lift the parchment off the sheets and transfer the whole sheet to cooling racks (only if the racks are big enough to hold the sheet). When the cookies are completely cool, carefully peel off the parchment.
Copyright © 2009 by Sharon Bowers
Photography by © Kevin Kennefick
Used by permission of Storey Publishing LLC
All Rights Reserved
