Basketball Glazed Butter Cookies

By Christy

Anthony Davis- My Favorite Player!!!

Happy March Madness!!! Originally being from KY, basketball has always been my forefront sport to watch and enjoy. It definitely doesn't hurt my interest when UK plays so well in addition it is my boyfriend's Alma mater. I, of course, put the University of Kentucky as the NCAA Champion and my bracket is actually in 4th place right now at work! (for now!) How is your bracket doing?

Due to all the bball watching, March Madness parties, and sports bar gatherings, we couldn't ignore baking for this super fun occasion. I was going to bake some sort of awesome UK baked good but decided not all of our readers may have the same sentiment towards my #1 team. Therefore, I decided to make basketball shaped butter cookies. They are not only festive but bite sized and delicious! Butter cookies, spritz cookies and shortbread cookies are all simple cookies that hold their shape really well. You see them baked alot around the holidays using cookie presses in fun shapes and that is why I knew it was the perfect type of cookie to make a half sphere without having to worry about them spreading or flattening out too much. Using a simple vanilla glaze dyed orange and some melted milk chocolate these cookies were transformed to be a perfect March Madness treat!

Butter Cookie:

Recipe is adapted from Land O'Lakes Spritz Cookie

1 cup salted butter, softened

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Martha Stewart's Vanilla Glaze:

3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Decoration:

Milk Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients for the cookies except for the flour and mix on medium speed until the mixture is creamy. Reduce speed to low and add the flour slowly until well mixed. To make half spheres I used a cookie scoop (as pictured to the right). Once I had my cookies scooped, I actually used a kabob stick to make basketball line indention's on the dough but now that I have baked and decorated I do not think this step is necessary. Bake in a preheated oven for about 14 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown.

While the cookies are cooling, prepare the vanilla glaze. Using a medium sized bowl, and a whisk -combine all ingredients. Once mixed well and there are little to no clumps, add the food coloring to get the desired orange coloring. I poured the glaze in a short cup and used a kabob stick to make dipping the cookies easier. Put the glazed cookies on a piece of wax paper while drying and dip the cookies twice for a brighter coloring. Once the glaze has dried (or is close), melt some chocolate chips in a zip lock bag. Microwave in increments of 15 seconds to ensure they don't get over cooked. Once melted, snip a teeny tiny corner of the bag off. Pipe the lines of a basketball on the sphere and let cool until the chocolate has hardened. If you are in a rush, putting the cookies in the freezer speeds up the process. Store the cookies in an air tight container with a piece of wax paper between the layers to ensure none of the cookies stick together.