Slice and Bake Cookies

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Set to the side.
  2 ⅔ cups All-Purpose Flour, 1 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tsp Cream of Tartar, 1/4 tsp Salt
• Using your Ankarsrum Assistent Original Mixer along with the cookie whisks, beat the unsalted butter on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.
  1 cup Unsalted Butter
• Turn off your mixer and add in the powdered sugar. Blend it together with the butter over low speed until it's almost combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  1 cup Sifted Powdered Sugar
• Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, mixing at medium-high speed until well blended.
  1 Large Egg, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract, 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
• Switching the mixer speed low, gradually add in the whisked dry mixture until fully incorporated. The cookie dough should start to form a ball and pull away from the sides.
• Take 2/3 (or 500 grams, if weighing) of the cookie dough, shape it into a disc or log shape, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate. That portion will be for the dough formed around the center shape. Place the remaining 1/3 portion of cookie dough (or 250 grams) into a separate bowl and add 4-5 drops of food coloring gel. Mix together with your hands (with gloves, please!), your hand mixer, or your Ankarsrum mixer.
  Food Coloring Gel
• Roll the colored cookie dough out to about a 1/4-inch thickness between two sheets of wax paper, then chill on a baking sheet in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. If the dough is still too soft, keep it in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes.
• Take the chilled rolled-out cookie dough from the freezer and cut out the trees using your mini cookie cutter. Place them on top of one another, dabbing a little bit of room temperature water in between each shape until you have a stack of about 7 to 7 1/4 inches in length. At any point, if the dough starts to become soft, place it back in the freezer along with the stacked cookie dough trees. Once done, carefully place the length of trees on its side and freeze for a minimum of 30 minutes. Meanwhile, take the wrapped, uncolored dough out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
• Using a bench scraper, cut strips of the uncolored cookie dough and gently push them into the crevices of the tree stack. The uncolored cookie dough should be soft and easily moldable. Keep building the dough around the trees until the log shape forms. Use plastic wrap or wax paper to help roll the dough into the log shape and give it a smoother surface. When done, double wrap the cookie dough log in plastic wrap and/or wax paper or aluminum foil and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours. My preference is to leave them in the freezer overnight.
• Remove the cookie dough log from the freezer about 10-15 minutes before baking. Adjust your oven rack to the middle position, preheat your oven to 375ºF, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking liners. Slice each cookie about 1/4 inch thick, then place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. I got six cookies per sheet. Optionally, roll the cookie dough log in the sparkling sugar before slicing.
  Sparkling Sugars
• Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes at 375ºF or until the bottom and edges are a light golden brown. Allow the to cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them with a serving spatula to a wire cooling rack.
• You can store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature with a slice of bread for up to five days.