Happy New Year! Champagne Shortbread

New Year’s Eve!  I have never been one to celebrate New Year’s Eve on a big scale.  Every year we talk about going into the City, watching the countdown and toasting in the New Year with the throngs..and yet we ultimately find ourselves staying home, watching a favorite movie and falling asleep!  We manage to toast in the new year with a glass of bubbly and something yummy to nosh on, but that’s about it.  Since I have one more cookie for my 12 Days of Cookie bucket list, why not a festive cookie to bring in the New Year and to complete the list?  The aha moment, let’s make shortbread.  It goes well with champagne and you can dress them up easily.  I had been eyeing a recipe from Christina Tosi of Momofuku fame so here was my opportunity to try it.   A quick jaunt over to Sur La Table  for cookie cutters in the shape of a champagne flute and a bottle and for sprinkles, I’m good to go.  On the return home I popped in the movie The Holiday (put it in your Netflix queue now, its worth it just for the score by Hans Zimmer and Eli Wallach’s performance) and settled in to bake and bring in the New Year.

This is a simple shortbread made with just four ingredients, butter, flour, brown sugar, and salt.  That’s it!  The cookie is the perfect foil for the icing which is made with sparkling wine.  I added a tiny pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla to round out the sweetness of the icing.  The cookie is elevated to a festive bite with the Rose’ icing and sugar sprinkles).  The icing’s a hint of pink and grown-up flavor courtesy of the Rose’.  I generally don’t decorate cookies (you might have noticed) but if not on New Year’s Eve, when else?  I  realize my New Year’s resolution should be to practice decorating cookies well before next New Year’s Eve!

Now that I have a beautiful platter of festive cookies the least I could do is share them.  So breaking with our usual tradition of a movie and falling asleep, we are headed to our friends Lisa and Mike’s house, cookies in hand plus the rest of the bottle of bubbly, to ring in the New Year!

Christina Tosi’s Cut-out cookies with Champagne Glaze can also  be found on Leite’s Culinaria.  Another great site for cooking tips and recipes!

Happy New Year everyone here’s to 2016!

A song to bring in the new year.  Here Comes the Sun as performed by James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma

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Champagne Shortbread Christina Tosi

Ingredients

CHAMPAGNE GLAZED SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE

• Quick Glance 45 M 2 H
• Makes about 2 dozen

For the cut-out cookies

• 2 sticks 8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for the work surface
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Champagne glaze

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup Champagne brut or rosé, plus more as needed
• Sprinkles

Instructions

• Cut-out cookies
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until well incorporated.
• Add 2 1/4 cups flour and the salt and mix on low speed until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Flatten the dough into 2 evenly shaped disks or pancakes. Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight. (Don’t skip the chilling. It’s essential for the dough to be workable.)
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove 1 disk of dough from the refrigerator, dust on both sides with a sprinkling of flour (about 1/4 cup total) and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness with a rolling pin.
• Cut the dough into your desired cookie shapes—I used Champagne flutes and bottles
• Carefully transfer them to the baking sheet. (Lightly flour an offset spatula to make cookies easy to transfer from the counter to the baking sheet before baking.) The colder the dough, the easier it is to cut and transfer to the baking sheet, so work quickly. Repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
• Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges. Let cool to room temperature. (You can freeze the cooled, undecorated cookies for up to 1 month.)
• Make the Champagne glaze
• Dump the confectioners’ sugar in a largish bowl and slowly whisk in the Champagne. If the glaze seems too stiff, add a little more Champagne, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved. Whisk in the food coloring, if using.
• Frost the cooled cookies with the Champagne glaze and, if desired, bring on the sprinkles.
• You can store the cookies in an airtight container on the counter or in the fridge for up to several days or in the freezer for up to several weeks.
• You can make and bake the undecorated cookies ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month. Let the cookies thaw completely and then slather with the Champagne glaze.