POLISH BUTTER COOKIES (CIASTECZKA)

Polish Butter Cookies (ciasteczka) image

Yield Makes about 5 dozen

Number Of Ingredients 14

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For cookies
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
5 hard-boiled large egg yolks, forced through a fine sieve
1 teaspoon vanilla
For glaze and decoration
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
1 teaspoon milk
Special Equipment
a pastry cloth and a rolling pin sleeve

Steps:

Sift together flour and salt.
Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in yolks and vanilla until combined well. Mix in flour mixture at low speed just until blended. Form dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Keeping remaining dough chilled, roll out one fourth of dough slightly less than 1/4 inch thick on floured pastry cloth with sleeve-covered rolling pin (dough is soft). Cut out desired shapes with a 21/2- to 3-inch floured cookie cutter. Chill scraps. Arrange cookies 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet.
Glaze and decorate cookies:
Stir together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Lightly beat together egg and milk in another bowl. Lightly brush tops of cookies with egg mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake cookies in middle of oven until pale golden, about 12 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. Make more cookies in same manner, rerolling scraps no more than twice.