Aunt Lisl's Butter Cookies

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 egg yolk
• Chopped nuts and raisins or 1 egg white
• Coarse sugar colored with blue food coloring
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• Mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Cookie cutters or toothpicks
• Rolling pin
• Greased baking sheet
• Pastry brush
• Metal spatula
• Cooling rack

1. Child: In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
2. Then mix in the eggs, brandy, salt, vanilla, and flour.
3. Let rest for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Adult with Child: Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thick.
5. Preheat oven to 350F.
6. Child: You can either use cookie cutters or use the point of a toothpick like a knife to cut out cookies in any shapes you want.
7. Let your imagination run free; how about dreidels, Stars of David, candles with flames attached, the four Hebrew letters on the dreidel?
8. Once you have cut out the cookies, gently place them on the baking sheet.
9. Then either brush them with egg yolk and sprinkle with nuts and raisins or brush with egg white and sprinkle with blue sugar.
10. Adult: Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
11. Use a metal spatula to gently remove each cookie from the baking sheet to a cooling rack or flat plate.

butter, sugar, eggs, brandy, salt, vanilla, flour, egg yolk, nuts, sugar, measuring cup, measuring spoons, mixing bowl, cutters, rolling pin, baking sheet, pastry brush, cooling rack

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/aunt-lisls-butter-cookies-104449 (may not work)