Vanilla-Chai Icebox Shortbread Cookies

Yield: 3 to 4 dozen

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 medium vanilla bean

Icing

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• More vanilla bean seed scraping, if desired
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Dough

1. In a large bowl, sift or whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, allspice and cardamom; set aside.
2. Combine butter, sugar, honey and salt in a bowl. Using an electric mixer or wooden spoon, beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until smooth.
3. Using a small knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half. Scrape the seeds from both sides of the pod with the tip of the knife and add them to the butter-sugar mixture. Beat to combine.
4. Add in flour-spice mixture, 1 cup at a time, blending until fully incorporated.
5. Divide the dough in half and transfer each half to a sheet of wax paper; shape into a 12 inch log, rectangle or square.
6. Chill logs at least 2 hours or overnight.
7. Heat oven to 350 degrees F with an oven rack in the middle. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
8. With a sharp knife, cut logs into 1/8 inch thick slices and arrange 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheets.
9. Bake until lightly browned around edges, about 10 to 12 minutes.
10. Transfer to racks to cool.

Icing

1. In a small bowl, whisk together icing ingredients until smooth and transfer to a sealable plastic bag. Cut a 1/8 inch opening in one corner of bag. Arrange cookies as close together as possible on sheets of wax paper and drizzle icing decoratively across the tops.

Attribution

Recipe and photo used with permission from: Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin

Source: America's Dairy Farmers