Recipe: White House Halloween Cookies

Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses' White House Sweet Dough Butter Cookies...
President Obama joked to Jay Leno earlier this week that the White House will get egged on Halloween if more candy isn't included in the treat bags, but the goodies this year for Saturday's early Presidential trick-or-treating contain exactly the same items as in 2010 and 2009, the White House announced. Yes, there's candy: Each cellophane treat bag includes a box of White House M&Ms, a scoop of dried fruit, and a White House Sweet Dough Butter Cookie made by Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses and his team. A couple thousand local kids are expected to troop across the pumpkin- and cobweb-laden North Lawn for a stop under the North Portico, where they'll be greeted by the President and First Lady. (Above: A tray of the cookies during prep)

Each cookie is a mini White House dipped in orange-colored icing. The treats are packed in clear cellophane bags covered with stars and tied with a purple ribbon. The White House released the recipe for the cookies, and a "recipe" for the dried fruit. Each batch of cookies contains--and here's where things get really scary--a pound of sugar and two pounds of butter. The horror! The recipe is very easy, but the dough must be refrigerated over night before it can be used. Check the sidebar for more White House recipes. (Above: The Presidential M&Ms that are in each treat bag)

White House Sweet Dough Butter Cookies

*Dough must be chilled overnight.

*Preheat the oven to 350F.

Ingredients
1 lb Sugar
2 lbs Butter
3 lbs All Purpose Flour
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Salt

Method
1. Mix the butter and sugar till soft and well beaten.

2. Then add eggs, vanilla, salt and half the flour. Beat on slow speed till mixed, then add the rest of the flour and mix until incorporated.

3. Push flat onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day, roll dough out to one quarter inch thick, and cut out cookie shapes with cookie cutter.

5. Bake at 350F for 14 minutes and then allow to cool.

Decorate as desired. Number of cookie servings varies depending on size of cookies cut.

White House Dried Fruit Mix

Mix dried apples, apricots, pears, blueberries, pineapple, papaya, pear, cherries and banana chips together, and serve.

In this video about 2011 Halloween preparations, Assistant Pastry Chef Susie Yosses shows off the cookies and treat bags getting put together in the pastry shop:


Related: CLICK HERE for a post about the 2009 Obama Halloween Celebration; CLICK HERE for a post about the 2010 Obama Halloween Celebration.