Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. The dough will be stiff.
- Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 60 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter (about 3 inches in diameter) to cut out cookies. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the icing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using) until smooth. The icing should be thick but pourable.
- Divide the icing into three small bowls. Tint one bowl black, one red, and one blue. You can leave a small portion white if desired.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, use piping bags or spoons to decorate them. Outline the cookies with black icing to create the clock face. Then, pipe on the numbers 1 through 12. Use red and blue icing to create clock hands pointing to different times.
- Let the icing set completely before serving or storing.
Notes
You can use different sized round cutters for variety. For thinner clock hands, use a very small round tip on your piping bag.