Ginger Sand Dollar

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup crystallized candied ginger, finely chopped
• Colored sanding sugar or turbinado sugar
• Slivered almonds

Preparation

1. 1. Beat butter and 2 cups sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Stir in vanilla. Gradually add flour to butter mixture, beating well at low speed until blended. Stir ginger into batter.
2. 2. Sprinkle sugar on wax paper. Shape dough into 2 (6 1/2-inch) logs on sugar; roll logs in sugar. Wrap each log in wax paper, and chill 4 hours. (Freeze dough in zip-top plastic freezer bags up to 1 month, if desired. Thaw 10 minutes before slicing.)
3. 3. Cut logs into slices, sprinkle each with sugar, and arrange 5 slivered almonds in a star design to resemble sand dollars.
4. 4. Bake, in batches, at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Let cool on pans 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks, and let cool completely.