Orange-Cardamom Snowflakes
These decorated sugar cookies are sweet and crisp, crunchy and buttery with just the right amount of orange and cardamom.  And they are EASY. Follow the decorating steps above.
Servings
3 1/2Dozen
Servings
3 1/2Dozen
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and orange extract and beat until combined. Add the salt, baking soda, and cardamom and beat to combine. Add the flour and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out your snowflakes and transfer cookies to baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.
  4. Bake cookies for about 8-11 minutes (depending on size) or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Decorate the snowflakes using the steps shown above. Be sure to let the icing dry at least 4 hours before storing.