Best Hand Cookies Recipes

CHILDREN'S HAND COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, and beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
• Add reserved flour mixture, and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
• Make cookie pattern and heart stencil while wrapped dough is chilling. For the pattern, have your child trace his or her hand on a manila file folder, and cut out the tracing. You will lay this on the dough and trace around it with the tip of a paring knife. For the heart stencil, cut a heart shape from a piece of parchment paper, discarding center.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a well-floured work surface, roll out cold dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out hand shapes. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Dough scraps may be re-rolled twice.
• To decorate the cookies with sanding sugar hearts, lay the heart stencil over a cookie. Combine the egg white with the water in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash in the heart, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Lift stencil and repeat with remaining cookies. Bake until edges just begin to brown lightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on pans for 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

HAND COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Cream the granulated sugar, shortening, vanilla and orange zest thoroughly. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add the milk and mix.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt, and then blend into the sugar mixture.
• Divide the dough in half, slightly flatten between two sheets of waxed paper and refrigerate, about 1 hour (or freeze for 20 minutes).
• For the egg yolk glaze: While dough is chilling, separate the eggs, reserving the whites and placing each yolk into an individual small bowl. Add 4 teaspoons water and different food coloring to each yolk and combine to make the egg yolk glaze.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Carefully cut around hands using a dull knife.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Transfer the hand cookies to a lightly greased cookie sheet and paint the cookies (with a soft brush) with the egg yolk glazes. Bake the cookies, about 6 minutes. Do not allow the cookies to brown. Transfer the cookies from the oven to a wire rack to cool.
• While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting: Simply combine the powdered sugar, butter, heavy cream and vanilla in a food mixer until light and fluffy. If you like you can put the frosting in disposable piping bags to make decorating easier. Decorate the cookies with the frosting and any edible decorations, jewels, disco dust, sanding sugar you like.

GIVE-A-HAND COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in vanilla and eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour until firm.
• Make cardboard hand shape by tracing around hand placed on medium-weight cardboard or sturdy plastic designed for crafts; cut out shape.
• Heat oven to 400°F. On lightly floured cloth-covered surface, roll half of dough at a time 3/16 inch thick. Place hand shape on dough (or use hand-shaped cookie cutter); trace around hand with pastry wheel or knife. On ungreased cookie sheet, place hand shapes 2 inches apart.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched in center. Carefully remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth and spreadable. Spread glaze over cookies. Decorate as desired with icings and candies.

HAND COOKIES

Steps:

• When it's time for me to start baking holiday cookies, a memory of my four sons making their hand cookies comes to mind. What a wonderful memory and tradition that started with my first son over 30 years ago. I would lay out their little hands on the cookie dough and gently and carefully cut around them, then bake those sweet hand cookies with the rest of the holiday cookies. The boys would all line up, side-by-side in front of their cookie shaped from their own hand, each decorating theirs in their very own style. I really created this idea to keep them busy while I decorated the batch of cookies, but instead, what fun memories it has created for me. Their hands have grown from tiny to large, to where only two cutouts would fit on the cookie sheet at a time. One year someone suggested making foot cookies instead...how we laughed! Sometimes I wish I could take time back to where we all were together laughing and joking with each other. Who knows...I might even let them do their feet this time! Thanks to my sons for the wonderful memories. It must have meant something to them, also, because last year one of my sons called me and asked if I would make the hand cookies with my grandson. I love Christmas and I feel that it is a perfect time to bring out the old traditions and even create new ones. Now I get to share this tradition with my grandchildren and create all-new memories.