Orange Star Cookies

These cookies looked so cute in the magazine.  I had been waiting to make these for a long time.  They took awhile to make, chill, roll out and cut, bake and frost.  But they are pretty darn cute and tasty.  The recipe below makes 24 prepared cookies.

Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp orange extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Glaze:
2 cups confestioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp orange extract
2-3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
black or brown gumdrops, or I used dark chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and extract.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.  Divide dough in half so that one portion is slightly larger than the other;shape each into a disk.  Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until easy to handle.
2. On a slightly floured surface, roll large portion of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with floured 3-in cookie cutter, whatever shape you want.  Warning: you must work very fast when rolling out and cutting cookies, if the dough gets too warm it will stick.  Place 1 in apart on greased baking sheets.  Repeat with remaining dough using a floured 2 3/4-inch cookie cutter to make an equal number of flower tops.
3.  Bake larger cookies at 350F for 8-10minutes or until golden brown; bake smaller cookies for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
4. In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk, orange extract and, if desired, food coloring; mix until smooth.  Immediately spread over cooled cookies.  Stir additional confectioners' sugar into remaining glaze to thicken; spread a small amount on bottom of smaller cookies.  Top with gumdrops.

Beth's Rating: 7/10

Nutrition (1 cookie):
200 calories
8g fat (5g saturated)
40mg cholesterol
130mg sodium
30g carbohydrates
1g fiber
21g sugar
2g protein