B'nai Israel Community Day School

Torah Cookies for Simchat Torah

Ingredients:

• DOUGH:
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 sticks butter or margarine
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ICING:
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp. water

Preparation:

1. Sift together flour, baking soda and cream of tartar into bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly using pastry blender.

2. Beat eggs, 1 cup sugar and vanilla in another bowl until well blended. Stir egg mixture into crumb mixture and mix until blended. Cover and chill in refrigerator 15 minutes.

3. Divide dough into fourths. Roll out each fourth of dough on floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with Torah-shaped cookie cutters or other cookie cutters of your choice. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle each with sugar. (or, if you plan to ice the cookies, do not sprinkle with sugar.) Bake in 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets; cool on racks.

4. For icing, combine all icing ingredients in a bowl and stir using a fork or a whisk until smooth and of good spreading consistency. Add more water a drop at a time if needed.

For colored icing, spoon portions of icing into small bowls and stir drops of food coloring in until desired colors are achieved.

Carefully ice cookies. Allow iced cookies to sit at room temperature until icing sets up enough to handle. Store iced cookies in an airtight container.