Russian tea biscuits

Ingredients:

Christmas cookies

• 8 cups sifted premium flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 cups butter (330 g)
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Option 2

• Half a batch of Christmas cookie dough, at room temperature
• 1 and 1/3 cups toasted salted pecans, chopped
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cookie dough and nuts. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 175°C.
3. Form the chilled dough into 2.5 cm (1-inch) balls and place them on a baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Bake until the edges of the cookies begin to brown, 12–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.
4. While the cookies are cooling, line another baking sheet with waxed paper. Sprinkle with 1 cup powdered sugar and place the slightly cooled cookies in the powdered sugar. Place the remaining 1 cup powdered sugar in a fine-mesh sieve and sprinkle it over the cookies.
5. Christmas cookies: Preheat oven to 175°C.
   
   In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in the eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Turn off the mixer and slowly add the flour mixture, a third at a time, until a stiff dough forms.
6. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Use two of the parts to make Christmas cookies, and set the other half aside for Russian cookies.
7. Cut out the cookies:
   
   On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the cookie dough to a thickness of 0.5 cm. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Place the cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake until light golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.