Combine butter, sugar, egg, extracts until light and fluffy about 5 minutes.  Once dough is light in color and fluffy, add in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.  Mix all just until combined, about 1 minute.  Then add the sprinkles just until incorporated, folding in by hand or a quick beat of the mixer.

The key to making these pretty with the cascading melt of the dough to cookie is to use a medium cookie scoop.  Use this scoop to drop dough onto cookie sheet or into flat container (whatever can fit into fridge to chill dough for at least 2-3 hours or overnight). Dough can be saved for up to 5 days.  *If dough was chilled for over 2 hours, let come to room temp for about 15 minutes before cooking.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Once chilled and ready to bake, line cookie sheet with Silpat or a non stick spray and drop rounded dough onto sheet a couple inches apart.  Bake for 8-9 minutes, tops.  Cookies will come out white and soft.  Let cool for about 15 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  These can be stored in air tight container or refrigerator for about 1 week.  They could also be sealed and frozen for a later date for up to 3 months.

Mazarin

Pastry Crust

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups flour

Mazarin Filling

• 8 oz. almond paste
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 2 T sugar
• 6 tbl. flour
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Confectioners Icing

• 1 tsp. of butter
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 to 3+ T milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Spray nonstick or butter oval tins or mini muffin pans; set aside.

Crust:

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy; beat in flour.  Press the dough evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pans you are using.  This is where a wooden dough presser comes in handy saving time and mess.  Set aside.

Filling:

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.  Using the same large mixing bowl as for the pastry–to save from dirtying more dishes–beat the almond paste to break up and soften.  Add the softened butter and beat until combined.  Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth.  Beat in the sugar.  Mix in the flour and almond extract and beat until smooth.  Add filling to each mini crust–almost 3/4 to the top of the crust.  This will rise during baking and then fall after cooling.  Bake tins/mini muffin pans at 400^o F for approximately 11 to 14 minutes.

After cooling on cake rack for 10-15 minutes, turn over the tins, and lightly tap to gently remove Mazarin.  Finish cooling on rack and frost with confectioners icing.

Icing:

Whisk the butter, confectioners sugar, extract, and enough of the milk to get your desired consistency.  It shouldn’t be too thin—we don’t want the icing to run off the side of the Mazarin.  After tarts have cooled, this icing should just sit on the top of the Mazarin with enough spooned on to cover the whole center almost to the edge of the pastry border.  I like to leave a bit of the filling showing beyond the icing just around the edges to show the layers/core of these beautiful mini tarts.  I found I had leftover filling and icing, so make 1.5 recipe of the crust to get the most out of the recipe.  Makes 36-48 tarts.