| 1 | Preparation time: 20 minutes chilling time: 4 hours baking time: 10 minutes Put flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, salt, almond extract and egg into large bowl of an electric mixer. |
| 2 | Mix together, using low speed. |
| 3 | Dough will be crumbly. |
| 4 | Then knead dough with hands until mixture holds together. |
| 5 | Remove 1/3 cup of the dough; wrap and refrigerate. |
| 6 | Divide remaining dough in thirds. |
| 7 | Using hands, roll each into a 6-inch log. |
| 8 | Put sugar crystals on a sheet of wax paper. |
| 9 | Roll each log in the sugar crystals to coat well; use the wax paper as a guide to press in crystals. |
| 10 | Shape each log into a triangle, pressing gently on wax paper to give three sharp corners. |
| 11 | Make sure to make 2 sides longer than the third side. |
| 12 | Wrap each log well and refrigerate at least 4 hours or until dough is firm enough to slice. |
| 13 | To this point, cookies can be made up to a week in advance. |
| 14 | Heat oven to 350 degrees. |
| 15 | To bake, slice logs crosswise into ?inch slices. |
| 16 | Put slices about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. |
| 17 | For each cookie, shape about ?teaspoon of the reserved 1/3 cup dough into a tree trunk. |
| 18 | Attach to bottom underside of each tree. |
| 19 | Sprinkle each cookie lightly with candy decorations, if desired. |
| 20 | Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. |
| 21 | Carefully remove to wire racks. |
| 22 | Cool completely. |
| 23 | Note: the logs can be divided and shaped into 3 sizes and sliced to form a 3-tiered tree. |
| 24 | These second-place winning cookies are easily shaped into trees that are edged with glittery green sugar. |
| 25 | Of her simple cookies, pat egan of dolton, illinois writes, "they"re not a fancy or gourmet cookie, but a simple symbol of the christmas season that is so close to my heart." from the chicago tribune annual food guide holiday cookie contest december 8, 198 |
