Rainbow cookies can make someone’s day

There are slice-and-bake cookies, and then there are slice-and-make-someone’s-day cookies. To create these feel-good rainbows, roll layers of different-colored dough into a log and let it set in the freezer, then cut it into rounds and pop them in the oven. Halve them into arcs while warm, and adhere lucky pots of gold, conjured from mini peanut-butter cups and sparkly candy.

END-OF-THE-RAINBOW COOKIES

Active Time: 1 hour, 5

minutes

Total Time: 7 hours, 50

minutes, plus cooling Makes: About 3 dozen

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 large egg, plus 1 large

egg white

⅓ cup whole milk, room

temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure

vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting Gel food coloring, such as AmeriColor, in pink, yellow and turquoise 1/4 cup powdered sugar Mini peanut-butter cups, such as Reese’s, and edible gold sequins and stars, such as Wilton, for decorating (optional)

Beat butter with sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add salt and egg; beat on medium until combined. Beat in milk and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour, beating until just combined.

Divide dough in half. Divide one half into 2 pieces (about 3⁄4 cup each). Flatten one piece into a 3- by 5-inch rectangle; wrap tightly with plastic. Roll out other piece into an 8-inch rod shape, about 1 inch thick; wrap tightly with plastic. Divide remaining half of dough into 3 pieces (about 1⁄2 cup each), then tint each with one of the gel colors, stirring color in with a spatula. Flatten each tinted piece into a 3- by 5-inch rectangle; wrap each tightly with plastic. Refrigerate all dough until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days (or freeze up to 1 month).

In a small bowl, whisk egg white with a fork. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out turquoise dough into a 4- by 8-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with egg white. Place dough rod on long edge of rolled-out dough, then roll rod inside it; seal at edges where dough meets by pinching and pressing gently. Freeze 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough, rolling yellow dough out to 5 by 8 inches, pink dough to 6 by 8 inches (⅛ inch thick) and untinted dough to 7 by 8 inches. Roll log in plastic wrap; twist ends closed. Freeze until solid, at least 4 hours and up to 1 month.

Preheat oven to 325

F. Let log soften at room temperature about 10 minutes; remove plastic wrap. Using a sharp chef’s knife, slice 1/4 inch thick, rotating log slightly after every slice to maintain even circles. Place slices on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until firm and just golden around edges, about 30 minutes. Cut each cookie in half with a sharp knife to form two rainbows. Let cool on sheet 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

In a small bowl, stir 1 to 2 teaspoons water into powdered sugar until mixture is thick and smooth. Use to adhere halved peanut-butter cups and gold sequins to cookies; let stand until glaze hardens, 30 minutes. Sprinkle with gold stars. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

Sip + repeat: blithe spirit

Irish whiskey has been around since circa 1400, but that doesn’t mean the festive tipple’s formula is set in stone. Teeling, the first distillery to open in Dublin in 125 years, ages its smallbatch variety in former bourbon and then rum barrels to give it notes of vanilla, oak and dried fruit — pretty neat. LET US HELP YOU! Email your questions to askmartha@ marthastewart.com, or send them to Ask Martha, c/o Letters Department, Martha Stewart Living, 225 Liberty St., 9th floor, New York, NY 10281. Please include your full name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters and messages become the property of Meredith Corp. and may be published, broadcast, edited or otherwise used in any of its media. By submitting your questions to Ask Martha, you are agreeing to let us use your name and hometown in connection with our publication of your questions.