Raspberry Valentine Sugar Cookies

I had a recipe glitch on 2-14-17 and had to re-enter the recipe. I just found a typo that has now been corrected. In the recipe, it had stated 5 Tablespoons of raspberry powder. The correct amount is 5 TEASPOONS.

Servings 24 (3 inch) cookies (approx.)

Ingredients

1.2 ounce bag freeze dried raspberries you'll use a little more than half
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Optional toppings/decorations melted white or dark chocolate, frosting, sprinkles etc.

Instructions

Make raspberry powder. In a food processor, process freeze dried raspberries until they become a fine powder. Strain the powder through a sieve to remove seeds. Discard seeds and set powder aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add egg, vanilla and almond extracts, and 5 teaspoons of the raspberry powder.
Beat until well combined. Add flour mixture and beat on low until combined.
Spread a couple of sheets of overlapping plastic wrap on your work surface to create an area large enough for you to roll you dough. Flatten into a disk and cover with another sheet or two of overlapping plastic wrap.
Roll the dough between the two pieces of plastic wrap to desired thickness. Occasionally lift the plastic wrap to release any wrap that gets caught under the dough. I roll mine to about 1/4". Roll it thinner for a crispier cookie (about 1/8")
Wrap the edges of the plastic wrap up over the dough and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes or until dough is firm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove top layer of plastic wrap and use flour dipped cookie cutters to cut desired shapes. I dip the cutter in flour in between each cut or two.
Place cut out cookies a couple of inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. If topping with sparkling sugar, sprinkle on before baking.
Bake for 8-12 minutes. Time will depend on how thinly you rolled your cookies and how hot your oven runs. I baked mine for about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms edges were just beginning to get lightly browned.
Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling. If you haven't already baked with a sugar topping, dip in melted chocolate, or frost and decorate as desired.

Recipe Notes

*I like to roll my cookie dough between sheets of plastic wrap right after it's been mixed. It's cleaner and easier to work with. This only works well if your plastic wrap sticks to your work surface. You can also just wrap the ball of just mixed dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate, then roll it out on a floured surface and cut out your shapes as you traditionally would with sugar cookies.

*I rolled my dough 1/4" thick and baked for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden on the edges. This gave me a firm, but soft cookie. For a crispier cookie, roll thinner and bake longer.

*You will have raspberry powder left over. Keep it in an airtight container and use it to flavor other recipes.

*I baked some of my cookies topped with sparkling sugar. You can also use raw sugar, but if you want the sugar to show up after baking, it must be a coarse sugar.

*I dipped some of my baked cookies in melted chocolate. I didn't provide any measurements because you may need different amounts depending upon your decorating plan. For every 2 ounces of chopped chocolate, place 1 teaspoon of shortening or coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high, stirring at 15-30 second intervals, being careful not to burn the chocolate. If you use 4 ounces of chocolate, use 2 teaspoons of shortening, for 6 ounces, use 3 teaspoons of shortening. The shortening will help keep your melted chocolate fluid and ready for dipping. You can add more or less depending upon the fluidity you want. I use organic non-hydrogenated shortening.

*Store cookies in an airtight container remembering that chocolate or frosting will keep the cookies soft. Mine were still soft on day 5. It's more difficult to keep them crispy since any topping with moisture in it will soften them. If you're only topping with sugar and you rolled and baked them using the crispy tips I've provided, I would store them in an airtight container layered with paper towels to help absorb any excess moisture. Please note that this recipe isn't engineered to bake up super crispy cookies. The different methods simply offer you an option to go a little crispier or a little softer.