Schoene Kuchen

This is, for me, a classic Christmas Cookie. My mom made it for us every year, and we'd help decorate them with icing and sprinkles. They are rather time consuming... especially since one batch makes about 10 dozen cookies, but well worth it. They make great gifts as well! This recipe is adapted from the Mennonite Treasury of Recipes.

Schoene Kuchen

Time: about 10 minutes to mix, 15 to start with rolling and cutting, and 50 minutes to bake 5 pans. As for icing... add another hour or two.
Makes 10 dozen cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cream (I use whole milk, since I live on a farm and it is more accessible)
1/2 cup butter (make sure it is butter, not margarine, as the taste and texture will differ)
3 eggs
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups white sugar (you can add less... this recipe is rather sweet when iced)
4 1/2 cups flour, plus extra flour

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugar. Add liquid ingredients. Mix together flour and baking powder, then add to the dough. Add flour until the dough is no longer sticky (best to be kneading with your hands). Roll dough out about 1/4 inch thick (I do it in portions... 1/2 the dough first, cut out my shapes, and then add more dough until it is all cut). Bake each pan for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom (may need less or more time, depending on the size of the cookies).

Butter Cream Icing
(adapted for cookies)

For every 2 1/2 dozen cookies, I need about 1 cup icing sugar mixed with a small amount of butter (I'd say 1/2 to 1 tsp) and about 1 Tablespoon of milk (again, using whole milk. May need less). Add only half the milk at a time until you reach the right consistency. To ice the entire batch I use 4.5 cups icing sugar with 1 Tbsp butter and 3-5 Tbsp milk. I also like to add about 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla... depending on the strength of your vanilla. The icing will remain a little bit soft, allowing for decorating a bit longer. They may squish, but if you use less butter it will be a stiffer icing. Also, if you substitute water for milk (or half water) it will also be stiffer.

Enjoy!