Lemon Sprinkle Sandies and a Giveaway!

If sprinkles make me happy, then sprinkles on a Kate Spade purse will make me turn cartwheels.  And I nearly flipped when I saw her Sprinkles Mallory Wristlet.  It's adorable and even though I'm no fashion maven, I simply had to have it.  It's just the sort of thing that I can't resist sharing so I'm giving one away!

I also made some delicious little lemon sandies and sprinkled them to match. They are as cute as a button and really easy to make, so even if you don't win the Kate Spade wristlet you can still have pretty sprinkle cookies any time you like!

How to enter: 

• Leave a comment below - tell me about your favorite cookie!  Maybe it's homemade chocolate chip, or maybe you just love Oreo cookies.    
• Please be sure to leave an email address or some way to reach you if you win.
• Deadline for entry is Friday January 18th.
• Winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email.
• Contest is open to everyone with a valid mailing address.

Lemon Sprinkle Sandies
[click for printable version]

These cookies hold their shape best if they are chilled.  I like to put the sprinkle-coated dough balls in the freezer overnight and bake them the next day.  You can certainly bake these right after rolling them in nonpareils, but  not chilling them will yield a flatter cookie.  Be sure to have plenty of multicolor nonpareils on hand to make these, I used an entire 3.75 oz bottle.  Metallic dragees and pearlized nonpareils are not recommended for this recipe because they melt easily during baking.  Using a cookie scoop will help achieve uniformly sized cookies.

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons lemon extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Zest of 1 lemon  

Multicolor nonpareils (at least a 3.75 oz. jar)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar and beat again until combined. Scrape down the bowl and beat in vanilla and lemon extracts.  Beat in the flour, salt and lemon zest.  The dough should not be sticky and should hold together when a small amount is squeezed in the palm of your hand.
3. Shape mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls (a little over 1 tablespoon of dough). Roll dough balls in nonpareils. Arrange balls 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until bottoms of cookies are light brown. Frozen cookie dough will take slightly longer to bake. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.
5. Keep in an air-tight container or in a zip-top bag with the air removed.