CITRUS SLICE Butter COOKIES ~ lemon, orange & lime
1cup (2 sticks ~ 16 TB) unsalted butter, softened
1cup sugar……………………….…2 eggs
1tsp. vanilla………………………..1 tsp. lemon, orange or lime extract
3cups all-purpose flour…………...Dash salt
About 1 TB jello powder (lemon, orange or lime)
Few drops yellow, red or green food color
Yellow, orange or green colored sugar
OPTIONAL: white, gold or silver tiny balls or jimmies **
NOTE: directions will make about 4 dozen each of 2 different flavors
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Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs in electric mixer bowl on medium-low speed until well combined. Add flour and salt; beat until soft, non-sticky dough forms and it somewhat comes off the sides of the bowl and sticks to the paddle. (You should be able to handle the dough without it sticking to your fingers. If dough is sticky, beat in additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes to the correct consistency.)
Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Put 1/3 of dough back in bowl; beat in whichever extract, jello powder and corresponding food color that you want ~ until color is consistent. Remove dough from bowl; cover with plastic wrap & chill.
Put another 1/3 of dough in the bowl. Beat in the other extract, jello powder and corresponding food color ~ until color is consistent. Remove dough from bowl; cover with plastic wrap & chill.
** NOTE: If you want to add white tiny balls or jimmies to either or both colored dough (as "seeds") you can beat them in with the color & flavoring, or knead them into the dough before you wrap it.**
Pat the remaining unflavored 1/3 portion dough into a ball; cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 1 hour.
Shape each portion of tinted dough into a roll about 12” long; set aside. (TIP: I do this on the plastic wrap for each portion of dough.) On lightly floured work surface, roll plain dough into a 12"x8-9" "rectangle. Put a roll of colored dough on plain dough. Roll plain dough in a single layer around colored dough. Cut away excess dough & reserve for the other colored dough. (HINT: If the plain dough won't go on smoothly, don't worry. Patch as necessary with extra dough. It will even out as you roll the log ~ and uneven white coverage is fine b/c real fruit has bumpy & uneven colored peel anyways.)
Unroll 1 log, but leave on top of the plastic wrap. Generously sprinkle with appropriate colored sugar; roll dough log in sugar until completely coated. Wrap sugar-coated dough log in plastic wrap; refrigerate. Repeat process with the other colored dough, remaining plain dough and other colored sugar. Refrigerate dough logs at least 4 hours (or up to several MONTHS in the refrigerator ~ to slice & bake as needed).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cut chilled logs into 1/4" slices. (Note that the logs will have flattened on the bottom. That's fine b/c they'll look more like half slices then.) With a dull butter knife, score “segment” lines into each round, making only indentations (do not go all the way through). Put about 2" apart on cookie sheets.
Bake 9-11 minutes or until set. (very barely beginning to become golden at the edges & bottom of cookies) Let them cool on the pans a few minutes before removing to paper to cool completely.
OPTIONAL CLEAR GLAZE: If you want your cookies to have a shiny clear glaze (I didn't do this in photos): You can use about 3/4 cup of lemon or orange juice, or even a lemon-lime soda ~ plus about 1 TB cornstarch. Heat juice/soda for about 2 min. in a glass bowl in microwave. While it’s heating, whisk cornstarch into about 1/4 cup cold water, until it’s blended thoroughly. Then whisk that into the heated juice/soda from the microwave, until thoroughly blended (if it needs to be heated again, do it for about 30 seconds). Then whisk until smooth, and brush over cookies.