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Mom's Cut-out Cookies
I can't have a cut-out cookie recipe section
without including my Mom's recipe.
This is the very first cut-out recipe I ever tried
making, and I have many fond
memories of decorating these cookies at
Christmas time with my family. It is a
tasty recipe, but doesn't quite hold it's
shape as well as I like. Below this recipe you
will find my altered version that is easier
to handle and holds it's shape a little better.
1 C. shortening
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 T. milk
Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, beat
well. Sift flour, salt, and
baking powder; Stir into creamed mixture along with
milk. Chill for several hours or
overnight. Roll on lightly floured board to 1/4"
thickness. Cut into desired shapes.
Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake
at 375 for 10-12 minutes.
My Version of Mom's Cut-outs:
Substitute half of the shortening for butter
(If using salted butter, omit 1/2 tsp. of the salt)
Decrease the baking powder to 3/4 tsp.
Karen's Sugar Cookies
1 cup salted butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
3 cups flour
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and extracts
and beat until light and fluffy. Sift together flour,
soda and cream of tartar. Add to creamed mixture
and mix just until combined. Divide dough in half.
Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten into a disk.
Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Roll to about 1/4"
thickness, cut with cookie cutters, and place on a baking
sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated
350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Cream Cheese Cookie Cut-outs
1 cup butter
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg,
vanilla and almond extract; beat well. In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder.
Add dry ingredients to cream cheese mixture; beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half.
Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Into desired shapes and
place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly
browned.
Cinnamon Spice Cookies
1 1/2 c. butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg. Beat until light and
fluffy. Stir flour with spices and soda; add to creamed
mixture. Mix well. This is a stiff dough. Divide dough in
half. Flatten each half into a disk and wrap in plastic
wrap. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Roll out
to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes. Bake at 350
degrees for about 10 minutes.
Chocolate Minichip Cookies
(from "Sugarbaker's Cookie Cutter Cookbook")
1 C unsalted butter
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/2 C packed light-brown sugar
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt
1 large egg yolk
2 1/2 C bleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C semisweet chocolate minichips
In a large bowl beat the butter, sugars, vanilla,
and salt till creamy. Beat in the
egg yolk. Gradually add the flour and beat until
thoroughly combined. By hand, stir
in the chips. Turn dough onto a large piece of
plastic wrap or reclosable plastic bag.
Chill in the refrigerator for 30 min. Preheat
oven to 350F. Lightly flour the work
surface and rolling pin and remove half the
dough from the plastic. Rewrap and refrigerate
the other half. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness
and cut out. Bake 10-12 min. or till
golden brown. Cool on sheet for 5 min. and
then transfer to wire rack. The cookies
will harden and become firm enough to decorate
as soon as the warm chocolate has cooled
and hardened; about 30 min. Makes approx.
3 dozen 3" cookies/ can easily be doubled.
Note: I have made these with salted butter
and omitted half of the salt and they turned
out wonderfully. Also, I only use 1 cup of chips.
White Chocolate Sugar Cookies
2 1/4 C all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 C butter, softened
1/3 sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
6 oz good white chocolate
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small saucepan over
low heat, melt the white chocolate
and set aside. In small bowl, whisk together the flour,
baking powder and salt (so they're
well combined) and set aside.
In large mixer bowl beat butter and sugar until creamy.
Blend in egg and vanilla extract.
Beat in melted white chocolate. Gradually beat in
flour mixture until soft dough forms.
Shape dough in ball; flatten to 3/4" thickness.
Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 15 minutes
until firm.
On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to desired
thickness. Bake until edges are
golden. Let stand 2 minutes. Remove from cookie
sheets and cool completely.
Note: This recipe is an exception to
my "refrigerating overnight" rule! You must
be able to roll and cut them after the 15 minute
refrigeration time, or they set up too much
and won't roll out well. This dough is a dream
to work with. You'll love it.
Lemon Cut-outs
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and
salt. Set aside. In large mixing
bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy; beat in egg.
Gradually add dry ingredients
alternately with lemon juice. Mix well. (Dough
will be soft). Cover and chill overnight
in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375°. Roll out
cookies on a well-floured surface. Cut
with floured cookie cutters. Place on parchment
lined baking sheets. (If not using
parchment paper, you will need to grease your
pan). Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
The Best Sugar Cookie
I found this recipe online somewhere (can't remember
where!). There's no doubt this is a
very good recipe! BUT... I don't recommend them if
you need to ship the cookies or if
they need to be stacked and handled a lot. Since
they are so light and tender they
are very fragile.
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Mix butter, sugar, egg and extract. Then, gradually
add baking soda, flour and cream of
tartar. Chill for at least two hours. Roll out on lightly
floured surface and use cutters.
Place cutouts on baking sheet and bake for six to
eight minutes at 375 degrees. Cool and
then decorate.
Meringue Powder Buttercream
1/3 cup water
3 T. meringue powder
1/2 cup shortening
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if you
want a pure white icing)
1/4 tsp. almond extract
Beat water and meringue powder until stiff
peaks form. Add shortening, sugar, and
extracts and whip for 3 minutes. Store well covered.
Note: I have had a lot of problems with
tiny lumps in this icing,
which prompted me to experiment
to see if I could eliminate the problem. My theory is that
the lumps were being caused by the
meringue powder mixing with the water and then drying
on the sides of the bowl. So, what I
came up with is this:
Sift half of the powdered sugar with the meringue
powder, and place in the bowl of a large
mixer. Turn on mixer (use whip attachment) and,
while mixing the sugar, slowly stream in the
water. Let it mix, until everything is incorporated.
Avoid scraping the bowl down if you
can. When stiff peaks form, add flavorings and
mix well. Then add remaining powdered sugar and
shortening and whip for 2-3 minutes more.
Hopefully you will have a lovely, lump-free icing!
Royal Icing
3 T. meringue powder
4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar
6 T. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if
you want a pure white icing)
1/4 tsp. almond extract
Beat all ingredients together until stiff peaks form
(about 10 minutes). To vary the consistency, add water
to thin and add powdered sugar to thicken. To thin the
icing for a good base coat consistency, add water a few
drops at a time and stir. Keep doing this until a drop of
the icing disappears into the rest of the icing at the
count of ten. It should be about the consistency of
sour cream.
Powdered Sugar Glaze
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6-7 T. milk
1 tsp. vanilla OR almond extract
Blend ingredients together until smooth. Divide into bowls and tint with paste
food coloring.
Note: This icing is very versatile. You don't really need to measure. Just mix
it to the consistency you prefer for glaze. It can also be thickened with more
powdered sugar to do outlines in a pinch.
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