Ingredients
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1 cup butter, at room tempurature
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white
water
food coloring
Preparation
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Cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the eggs and vanilla, and mix until thoroughly combined.
Gradually add in the dry ingredients, putting in the flour a bit at a time, until the dough is all mixed.
Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Roll out dough to 1/4\" thick, and cut into rounds.
Using a straw or the tip of an icing bag, punch holes where the buttonholes would be.
Bake for around 10 minutes, or until the edges are just turning golden.
Remove the cookies from the baking sheet, and allow to cool completely, else the icing will run off.
Mix the icing by beating into the powdered sugar the egg white, and just enough water to make a runny, pourable consistency - you may need to experiment a bit with this to get a great, workable batch.
Tint to desired colors with food coloring.
To ice the cookies, place one or two cookies at a time on a long, flat knife.
Hold the cookies over the bowl of icing, and spoon icing over, making sure to get the sides covered.
Allow the excess icing to drip off, then transfer the cookies to a rack over paper to catch the drips.
Repeat until all the cookies are covered.
Let cookies dry for several hours (if you can wait!).
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