Spiced Christmas Puffs

Spiced Christmas Puffs via Pottery Barn Kids

ingredients

· 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

· 1 cup sugar

· 1 egg

· 1/2 cup milk

· 1 Tb. vanilla extract

· 5 cups flour

· 2 Tb. baking powder

· 1 tsp. salt

· 1 Tb. orange zest

· 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

· 3/4 cup powdered sugar

variation

· Replace orange zest and ground cloves with the following spice combination:

· 1 tsp. ground ginger

· 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

· 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

· 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

preparation

· Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light in texture, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and mix until incorporated.

· Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add half of the liquid ingredients and half of the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and stir to combine. Add the remaining liquid ingredients, dry ingredients, orange zest and cloves (or four-spice combination, if you're using the variation), and mix until uniformly combined, about 1-2 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

· Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

· Place the powdered sugar in a wide, shallow bowl. As soon as the cookies are cool enough to handle (but still hot), roll them in the powdered sugar and place them on a cooling rack. Once the cookies have cooled completely, transfer the remaining powdered sugar to a sieve and gently dust the Christmas puffs with it.

yield: 5 dozen cookies