Butter cookie dough is piped to form beautiful flowers and swirls and topped with glazed cherries and baked to perfection. These buttery and crumbly cookies are popular for occasions like Christmas, Chinese New Year and Hari Raya.
Cut one cherry into 6-8 tiny pieces. Line baking sheets with parchment papers. Cut the butter into smaller pieces so they soften faster. I usually let the butter sits out at room temperature for 15-30 minutes (depending on the temperature where you are) before I plan to start making the dough. The butter should be soft and not melting. When you press on it, it should yield without resistance
In a mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and set aside. Crack one whole egg in a bowl and whisk to loosen the egg. Measure out 25 grams to be used later. Once the butter has softened, place the butter and sugar in a bowl of the stand mixer, use the flat beater and mix at low speed for 1 minute and then increase the speed to medium and mix until the sugar and butter are mixed through, about 2 minutes. Do not overmix the butter here. There's no need to beat until pale and fluffy. You can even do this manually without the mixer
Add the egg and continue to mix. Add the dry ingredient and stir to combine until you get a sticky dough
Piping:
UPDATE: Preheat oven to 320 F (160 C) for conventional oven, 300 F (150 C ) for convection oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place your baking rack 3rd from top and 3rd from bottom. Cut off about 1-inch of the piping bag and place the piping tips into the bag and fill up the piping bag with the dough. Push as much air out as possible. The 1M tip will create dahlia design.
Pipe the cookies from a straight angle and pull up and twist a bit to "cut" off the dough. Pipe it a bit high as the cookies will flatten a bit as they bake. Pipe the cookies about 1 inch apart as they will spread when baked. Place one cut glazed cherries. Chill the cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes before baking
Baking:
UPDATE: I suggest baking one tray at a time. Place the pan on the middle rack. Bake for 18-20 minutes and rotate the pan halfway through baking
The cookies will still be very soft when they are just out from the oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer the baked cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool off completely. Store in an air-tight and dry container and it can last for a month. These butter cookies taste best the next day onwards. They may appear a bit dry on the same day you bake them as the flavor hasn't developed