1988 2nd Place: Pat Egan's Christmas Tree Cookies

Directions

1. Preparation Time: 20 min
2. Chilling Time: 4 hrs
3. Baking Time: 10minutes
4. 1. Put flour, sugar, butter, baking pwdr, salt, almond extract and egg into large bowl of an electric mixer. Mix together, using low speed. Dough will be crumbly. Then knead dough with hands till mix holds together.
5. 2. Remove 1/3 c. of the dough; wrap and chill. Divide remaining dough in thirds. Using hands, roll each into a 6-inch log.
6. 3. Put sugar crystals on a sheet of wax paper. Roll each log in the sugar crystals to coat well; use the wax paper as a guide to press in crystals. Shape each log into a triangle, pressing gently on wax paper to give three sharp corners. Make sure to make 2 sides longer than the third side. Wrap each log well and chill at least 4 hrs or possibly till dough is hard sufficient to slice. To this point, cookies can be made up to a week in advance.
7. 4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. To bake, slice logs crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Put slices about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. For each cookie, shape about 1/2 tsp. of the reserved 1/3 c. dough into a tree trunk. Attach to bottom underside of each tree.
8. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with candy decorations, if you like. Bake till lightly browned, about 10 min. Carefully remove to wire racks. Cold completely.
9. Note: The logs can be divided and shaped into 3 sizes and sliced to create a 3-tiered tree. These second-place winning cookies are easily shaped into trees which are edged with glittery green sugar.
10. Of her simple cookies, Pat Egan of Dolton, Illinois writes,
11. "They're not a fancy or possibly gourmet cookie, but a simple symbol of the Christmas season which is so close to my heart."