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 a few different ingredients that I rely on |  yes, it DOES make a difference to beat shortening, butter & sugar for 2 minutes! |  The perfect cookie texture! Comes off paddle easily & isn't sticky at all |  You can see the nice texture of the cookie dough when you press on it |
 Cut into 4 pieces ... |  set a piece aside ~ combine other 3 & cut that in half |  blue raspberry & color into the smallest portion (that you removed first) |  Red raspberry into one of the larger pieces ~ keep the other plain |
 Roll out white & red pieces to 8" square ~ chill at least 30 min. |  Use damp fingers to "patch" & shape the 8" square as needed |  Don't worry if it isn't perfect ~ the squares will all be stacked |  After chilling ~ cut 2 2-1/2" strips of BOTH red & white and also 2 1-1/2 strips |
 Stack the 2-1/2" strips ~ and stack the 1-1/2" strips (alternating color) |  Put the stack of 1-1/2" strips on top of the stack of 2-1/2" strips ~ pushed to one side |  Roll an 8" log with the blue dough ~ shape & mold it into place (and sharpen the edges) so it fills the space next to the 1-1/2" stack of red & white |  Sideways view of what the cookie log will look like (remember that the ends are always "throw aways" or Cook's Treat) ~ wrap & freeze |
 slice the log |  put stars on before baking |  after baking |  clear shiny glaze |  cooling |
I found several recipes for flag icebox cookies on-line, but each had something I didn't like and neither had any flavoring at all (except vanilla) ~ and I like to add some cornstarch to mine because it seems to help the texture. One of the recipes I found used all butter (which tends to spread ~ not good with a mille fiori-style cookie) and one used all shortening (not as rich as butter), so I just used half of each as my "fat" ~ and some other little changes too.
One had directions measuring & weighing everything to the .001th of a gram ... but since I wasn't making these for Master Chef, I really couldn't be bothered with that nonsense. Besides they both had the same general idea to their assembly ~ so you get my easier to follow assembly (but if you want to weigh the portions or mathematically figure the dimensions, go for it!).
I found my itty bitty stars on eBay, but you could use silver glitter or white little balls. (One of the recipes put her stars with a TWEEZERS ~ haha ~ not me! ... the one who meticulously weighed everything didn't even have stars but just put glitter into the blue dough!)
AMERICAN FLAG Icebox COOKIES
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar……….......1 large egg room temperature
2 TB milk (any kind)………………….1 TB vanilla extract
3 cups flour……………………….....1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt………………………......1 TB cornstarch
1 TB each blue raspberry AND raspberry jello powder
(you can use a little package of unsweetened blue and/or red Kool-Aid mix instead)
Blue & red neon / gel food color (try not to use liquid as it can affect the texture of the cookie dough & make it sticky)
Star sprinkles (or silver glitter)
***
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes ~ just get the rest of your ingredients out & let it beat. It really DOES make a different to beat longer!). Thoroughly mix in egg, milk and vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture until combined. (1 cup at a time, on low ~ if you have the smaller 5-cup mixer, you might want to hold a towel around the bowl for the last cup of flour, so it doesn't pouf out at you). Scrape down the sides and mix on med/high about 30 seconds.
Divide freshly made cookie dough into 4 equal parts. Take one part and set it aside. Press the remaining 3 parts together to form a disk and cut it in half.
Color the smallest piece of cookie dough with a blue gel food coloring and the blue jello powder. And one of the larger pieces with gel food color and red raspberry jello powder. You should have blue, red and uncolored pieces of cookie dough.
Roll white and red cookie doughs into an 8×8” square. Chill at least 30 min. Brush white dough with some water. Layer red dough onto the white. Divide the 8” white/red cookie square into strips: two strips of 2-1/2”, and two strips of 1-1/2”. * Layer one 2-1/2” strip on top of the second 2-1/2” strip. Then layer both 1-1/2” strips of red/white dough onto the 2-1/2” log, aligning the left edges. Cover and chill for 15 minutes (and also chill the blue dough)
* Shape blue dough into an 8” log. Put it into the center of the "L" shape on the red & white stacks ~ "squish" it around with your hands so that it fits in there tightly and square off the edges as well as possible. Wrap well and freeze for at least 1-2 hours.
If it's frozen, let it sit on the counter about 15 minutes ~ if you've put it into the refrigerator, let it sit out about 5-10 minutes. Slice cookies about 1/4" thick. Put star sprinkles on the blue part & press down (I dampened the blue part slightly first). Put cookies 1-2” apart on a parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350˚F. Cookies are done when top is dry and bottom is just turning golden.
If you want just a clear, shiny look to the cookies ~ brush them with a mixture of 3 parts clear corn syrup mixed with 1 part vodka. The alcohol will evaporate and you won't taste it, but it will dry quickly and leave the cookies shiny (so, maybe about 6 tsp. corn syrup to 2 tsp. clear vodka ~ whisked well)
Makes 24-30 cookies
One had directions measuring & weighing everything to the .001th of a gram ... but since I wasn't making these for Master Chef, I really couldn't be bothered with that nonsense. Besides they both had the same general idea to their assembly ~ so you get my easier to follow assembly (but if you want to weigh the portions or mathematically figure the dimensions, go for it!).
I found my itty bitty stars on eBay, but you could use silver glitter or white little balls. (One of the recipes put her stars with a TWEEZERS ~ haha ~ not me! ... the one who meticulously weighed everything didn't even have stars but just put glitter into the blue dough!)
AMERICAN FLAG Icebox COOKIES
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar……….......1 large egg room temperature
2 TB milk (any kind)………………….1 TB vanilla extract
3 cups flour……………………….....1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt………………………......1 TB cornstarch
1 TB each blue raspberry AND raspberry jello powder
(you can use a little package of unsweetened blue and/or red Kool-Aid mix instead)
Blue & red neon / gel food color (try not to use liquid as it can affect the texture of the cookie dough & make it sticky)
Star sprinkles (or silver glitter)
***
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes ~ just get the rest of your ingredients out & let it beat. It really DOES make a different to beat longer!). Thoroughly mix in egg, milk and vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture until combined. (1 cup at a time, on low ~ if you have the smaller 5-cup mixer, you might want to hold a towel around the bowl for the last cup of flour, so it doesn't pouf out at you). Scrape down the sides and mix on med/high about 30 seconds.
Divide freshly made cookie dough into 4 equal parts. Take one part and set it aside. Press the remaining 3 parts together to form a disk and cut it in half.
Color the smallest piece of cookie dough with a blue gel food coloring and the blue jello powder. And one of the larger pieces with gel food color and red raspberry jello powder. You should have blue, red and uncolored pieces of cookie dough.
Roll white and red cookie doughs into an 8×8” square. Chill at least 30 min. Brush white dough with some water. Layer red dough onto the white. Divide the 8” white/red cookie square into strips: two strips of 2-1/2”, and two strips of 1-1/2”. * Layer one 2-1/2” strip on top of the second 2-1/2” strip. Then layer both 1-1/2” strips of red/white dough onto the 2-1/2” log, aligning the left edges. Cover and chill for 15 minutes (and also chill the blue dough)
* Shape blue dough into an 8” log. Put it into the center of the "L" shape on the red & white stacks ~ "squish" it around with your hands so that it fits in there tightly and square off the edges as well as possible. Wrap well and freeze for at least 1-2 hours.
If it's frozen, let it sit on the counter about 15 minutes ~ if you've put it into the refrigerator, let it sit out about 5-10 minutes. Slice cookies about 1/4" thick. Put star sprinkles on the blue part & press down (I dampened the blue part slightly first). Put cookies 1-2” apart on a parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350˚F. Cookies are done when top is dry and bottom is just turning golden.
If you want just a clear, shiny look to the cookies ~ brush them with a mixture of 3 parts clear corn syrup mixed with 1 part vodka. The alcohol will evaporate and you won't taste it, but it will dry quickly and leave the cookies shiny (so, maybe about 6 tsp. corn syrup to 2 tsp. clear vodka ~ whisked well)
Makes 24-30 cookies
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