Name: Pastel Butter Cookies
Yield: Makes 40
Ingredients: 1 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted; 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon coarse salt; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, plus 1/2 cup per tinted sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; Freeze-dried fruits in various colors, such as blueberries, raspberries, and mangoes

Photo of Pastel Butter Cookies on a serving platter.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber

To give a batch of almond shortbread cookies the pastel treatment, dust them with tinted confectioners' sugar. We blended the sugar with finely ground freeze-dried fruits (blueberry, raspberry, and mango) for subtle, all-natural hues.

Tip

We used pastel powdered food coloring from freeze-dried fruits (found in the snack section of large grocery stores) to decorate these cookies, but for a broader palette of colors, look for the array of pastel powdered sugars at specialty baking stores.

Recipe information

Yield
Makes 40

Ingredients

1 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon coarse salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, plus 1/2 cup per tinted sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Freeze-dried fruits in various colors, such as blueberries, raspberries, and mangoes

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place toasted almonds in the bowl of a food processor. Add flour, salt, and cinnamon, and process until nuts are finely ground, about 1 minute.
Step 2
In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat butter and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla and beat until combined. With mixer on low, gradually add almond mixture and beat until just incorporated.
Step 3
Using a 1 1/2‑inch (1‑tablespoon) cookie scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are just golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool completely.
Step 4
For each desired color, place 1/2 cup fruit with 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth and evenly tinted. (Sugars can be stored in airtight containers up to 1 month.) Place tinted sugars in small bowls and dip cookies, domed-side down, into tinted sugars to coat. Transfer to a plate and let rest, about 30 minutes. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.)

The cover of the cookbook featuring a chunky caramel-filled chocolate chip cookie with one bite taken out, balanced vertically on a glass of milk.

Reprinted from Martha Stewart's Cookie Perfection: 100+ Recipes to Take Your Sweet Treats to the Next Level. Copyright © 2019 by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. Buy the full book from Amazon.