A Cookie for Hanukkah

To all my friends who celebrate Hanukkah, I hop you've had a great first few days of celebration. Hopefully you find this cookie recipe before the end of the holiday this week, though you very well could be full of latkes and babka. 

To those who don't celebrate with blue and white, these cookies are also perfect for Christmas. All you have to do is change the color of the sprinkles you buy, though the blue and white do make a lovely snow themed gift. What I'm trying to say is...whatever the color, these are some darn good cookies. 

Glitter Ball Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean, optional
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Sanding sugar, in assorted colors
• Buttercream filling of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down side of bowl as necessary. 
2. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise, and use the back of a knife to scrape out all of the beans. Beat in vanilla extract and vanilla beans. 
3. Turn speed to low; add flour, and mix just until combined. 
4. Shape into 3/4-inch balls, they will bake into half sphere shapes. 
5. Place various colors of sanding sugar in shallow bowls. (Note: make an even number of each color so you have two matching halves to make one whole glitter ball.) Roll each ball in sanding sugar, and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.
6. Bake until edges begin to golden, about 15 minutes. These cookies are very crumbly, so make sure you let them cool completely before pulling them off of the baking sheet.
7. Spread the filling of your choice on the bottom of a cookie, and top with a second cookie. Enjoy!

You can use any filling you would like. I have used honey buttercream for Hanukkah, but I personally love cream cheese icing the best. You can add whatever flavor makes you happiest. Heck, you can even use store bought if that's what you've got on hand. Here is my cream cheese recipe for kicks:

Cream Cheese Frosting, small batch

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 TB butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix on high, until smooth and there are no lumps. Refrigerate after making. 

Before...

After! Aren't they just lovely?! Happy Holidays to all!