The origin of this recipe is the combination cookbook–art catalog If You Make a Mistake, Put a Rose on It, by UMass art professor emerita Pat Lasch and her dad Fred Lasch, a master pastry maker. Pat’s art is in such major museums as the Metropolitan (below, her “Bound in the Bardo” sculpture, and yes, that is a bat skeleton). Over the years, we’ve tweaked the recipe; we don’t think you’ll need to add any roses to these cookies, unless you want to.
The dough serves as a basic creative canvas. Before baking, you can decorate cookies with colored sugar, sprinkles, or finely chopped nuts. Brushing on a thin, thin coat of milk will help toppings adhere. Or you can frost the cookies after they’ve cooled completely.
Ingredients
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp. vanilla extract or 1 tsp. almond extract
1 tbsp. water
2 c. unsifted white flour
Decorators’ sugar (optional)
To make:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Have ingredients at room temperature.
Using a mixer at medium speed or a food processor, cream butter and sugar together. Lightly beat egg, then add into butter mixture.
Add flavoring and water, beat until all ingredients are well-mixed.
Mix in flour, a cup at a time, until incorporated fully. Shape dough into a ball; flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 2-3 hours.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough about ¼ inch thick and cut out cookies with heart-shaped cookie cutters. Place cookies on a plate and sprinkle on decorators’ sugar, if you like. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes, until barely brown around the edges. Let cool on sheet.
Bound in the Bardo, 1981.
