Classic Cream Wafers

I love these cookies. I hadn't made these cookies for about 10 years...I don't know why it took me so long to make them again. I love them. They are so yummy and they look so pretty. I made these for the bridal shower I helped throw yesterday and they were a huge hit. They are delicate cookies, with flaky wafers that just about literally melt in your mouth. I had M's pricked into the top of half of the cookies (I didn't get the idea until I was done baking all but the last pan), but those got eaten first, so the pictures are just of the "normal" grid pricked cookies.


Wafer Ingredients:

1 c. butter or margarine, softened
1/3 c. whipping (heavy) cream (NOT whipped cream)
2 c. flour
Granulated sugar

Creamy Filling Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
food color

Wafer Instructions:
1. In medium bowl, mix butter, whipping cream and flour thoroughly with spoon. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

2. Heat oven to 375 degrees. On lightly floured surface, roll about 1/3 of the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick (keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll). Cut into 1 1/2 inch rounds. --my note: I had to work the dough together so that it was a dough and not a bowl of crumbles. This is normal. Once the butter warms up more it sticks together like dough.

3. Cover a piece of waxed paper with a thick layer of granulated sugar. Transfer rounds with spatula to sugar-covered waxed paper. On ungreased cookie sheet, place rounds about 1 inch apart. Prick rounds with fork about 4 times.

4. Bake 7-9 minutes or just until set but NOT brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Put cookies together in pairs (bottoms together) with Cream Filling.

Cream Filling Instructions:
1. In a small bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla with spoon (I used beaters) until smooth and fluffy.
2. Stir in a few drops of food color.
3. A few drops of water can be added if necessary to make filling more spreadable.
4. This will not seem like enough filling at first, but it fills the cookies nicely. If you want really full creamy filling cookies, double the filling recipe.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

I helped to throw a bridal shower for a good friend and made some cookies to take to the party. I wanted the cookies to be nice and pretty looking though, so I found two recipes. This was the first cookie I made and I LOVE it. It is so yummy and simple. They are like the Russian Wedding Cookies, but better.

I found this recipe in the "Recipes from Home" by the Stanley Homemakers' Club. It was submitted to the cookbook by Nancy Sowle.


Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, room temp
3 oz of cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 T. lemon zest
2 tsp. lemon juice (about 1/2 a large lemon gives you the lemon juice and zest that you need)
2 c. cake flour (I just used normal flour)
1 c. chopped pecans (I didn't add the pecans)

1. Cream together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. 
2. Gradually add sugar and beat hard. 
3. Stir in vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. 
4. Add flower, mixing well. 
5. Stir in nuts. 
6. Push small amount from spoon onto a greased baking sheet (I wasn't exactly exactly sure what size this meant, so I made them tsp. drop size).
7. Bake at 300 degrees fro 20-25 minutes or until light brown. While cookies are still hot, roll them in powered sugar.