Holiday cookie recipe: Silver bells

Holly Hall of Glendale was one of the 10 winners of our first Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these silver bells. Of the rich and buttery cookies, she says simply:

“Our family has been rolling out and decorating silver bells for 40 years.”

These festive cookies are one of the favorite holiday cookie recipes we’ve collected in our updated “Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookies” e-book. The cookbook now includes 65 recipes from a wide range of sources, including world-famous pastry chefs, favorite bakeries and home cooks. And check out the favorite holiday recipes we’ve collected in our “Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook.” The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s.

Each book is $4.99. They are available at the Los Angeles Times bookstore for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

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You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

Silver bells

Total time: 1 hour, plus decorating time

Servings: About 4 dozen cookies

Note: Submitted by Holly Hall of Glendale.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted and divided

2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups flour, sifted

1 to 2 teaspoons water

Food coloring, optional

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and one-half cup powdered sugar until light and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla, and then the salt. Stir in the flour, a little at a time, until thoroughly mixed and smooth to form the dough.

3. Gather the dough and roll it to a thickness of one-fourth inch on a floured surface. Cut out cookie shapes from the dough.

4. Space the cookies about 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until just browned on the bottom but still light on top, about 10 minutes. Cool briefly on the pan, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

5. Make the glaze: In a medium bowl, stir together the remaining powdered sugar and vanilla extract with just enough water to reach the desired consistency. To color the glaze, divide the dough and tint with food coloring as desired.

6. Ice the cookies as desired.

Each of 4 dozen cookies: 70 calories; 1 gram protein; 8 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 4 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 10 mg cholesterol; 4 grams sugar; 13 mg sodium.