“They all ran after the farmer’s wife, who cut off their tails with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a sight in your life?”
Maple Mice Cookies
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- Sliced almonds
- 2 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tbsp Runamok Bourbon Barrel-aged, Cinnamon+Vanilla Infused or Sugarmaker’s Cut Pure Maple Syrup
- Licorice laces, red or black, cut into 3” pieces
- Chocolate covered sunflower seeds
Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until creamy and fully blended. Add the egg and almond extract and continue beating. Slowly add the flour and salt and mix until just blended. If the dough feels too sticky, add a little extra flour.
Roll the dough into a ball, cover with waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 and remove the dough from the fridge. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pinch off about one tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball between your hands. Press the ball into a slightly elongated shape with one end being more bulbous than the other. Pull the more slender end into a moderately pointy tip and press gently above the end to make two indents for eyes. Pick out two similar sized sliced almond pieces and insert them above the eye area to make ears. Put the mouse body on the parchment and repeat with the remaining dough. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. You want the outside to be firm with a little give still in the center or they will be too hard to eat. Remove from the oven and before they cool down, pierce the larger end with a skewer and insert a licorice ‘tail’. Allow to cool completely.
Mix the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup in a small bowl. Select matching colored eyes from the sunflower seeds and set aside. Take a mouse one at a time and drizzle the maple glaze over the whole body, being careful not to glaze the ears or tail. While the glaze is still wet, apply the sunflower seeds in the eye indentations. Let the glaze dry and place the mice on a tray. Makes about 20 mice.
