Royal Fans

Ingredients

• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• All-purpose flour, as needed for rolling dough
• 2 egg yolks
• Food coloring
• Silver or gold dragées, for decorating

3 dozen cookies

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together cake flour and sugar. Add butter and almond extract, working it into mixture with your fingertips until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Compress dough into a ball, kneading it slightly if necessary until it is cohesive.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/3-inch thickness. Use a fluted 4-inch round cookie cutter to cut into disks. Cut each piece into quarters. Using a small spatula or knife, lightly press five or six angled indentations into each quarter to resemble folds of a fan.
3. Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Whisk each egg yolk separately with 1 teaspoon water and a drop or two of food coloring, then brush it lightly over folds of fans with a small paintbrush. Decorate cookies with silver dragées, placing a dragée at end of each fold of fan.
4. Bake until very light brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely, and store at room temperature in an airtight container.

About 45 minutes