christmas sandies

My bestie shared this recipe with me. She always makes these for Christmas. When I was looking for ideas of gifts to make to give to all of the important people in my life she recommended this recipe to me! These cookies are not the healthiest cookie I have ever made, but if you only eat a few they are not that bad for you! That's why they make great gifts! I decided to make a trial batch (okay, I may have been procrastinating) and share the recipe with you.

1c butter, softened to room temperature

1/2c icing sugar

1t Mexican vanilla

2c all-purpose flour

1c finely chopped dried cranberries

2t lemon zest
white sanding sugar (or colored)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside. Chop cranberries in food processor until finely chopped. Cream butter with an electric mixer on medium for 30 seconds. Add icing sugar. Beat until combines, scrape down sides of the bowl as needed.  Mix in flour and vanilla. Stir in cranberries and lemon zest.

Shape mixture into 1/2 in balls and roll dough then roll in sanding sugar. Arrange cookies 1 inch apart on prepared cookies.

Bake in preheated oven overn for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are light brown. Transfer to wire racks to let cool.

Makes about one hundred forty-four 1/2 inch cookies.