Spiced Sorghum Snowflake Cookies

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until fluffy. Add orange zest and egg, beating until smooth.

Stir together hot water and baking soda in a small bowl until baking soda is dissolved. Stir in sorghum.
 

Stir together flour and next 5 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with sorghum mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions; flatten each into a disk. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 325°. Place 1 portion of dough on a lightly floured surface, and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with assorted sizes of snowflake-shaped cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Repeat procedure with remaining dough disk. Once cookies are cut and placed on baking sheets, freezing them about 10 minutes allows them to better hold their shape during baking.

Bake at 325° for 13 to 15 minutes or until cookies are puffed and slightly darker around the edges. Cool on pans 1 minute; transfer to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).

Spoon Royal Icing into a zip-top plastic freezer bag. Snip 1 corner of bag to make a small hole. Pipe icing in decorative designs on each cookie. Sprinkle with white sparkling sugar, and decorate with nonpareils and sugar pearls. Let icing harden at least 1 hour.
 
Note: We tested with snowflake-shaped cutters ranging in size from 1 3/4 inch to 4 inches.

To Make Royal Icing
 
Beat all ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Beat at high speed 4 minutes or until glossy and stiff peaks form, adding a few drops of additional water, if necessary, for desired consistency.

This recipe is excerpted with permission from "Christmas with Southern Living 2013: The Ultimate Guide to Holiday Cooking & Decorating" by the Editors of Southern Living Magazine and published by Oxmoor House.