Use this recipe to make cut out cookies. This great tasting cookie recipe is great plain or decorated with royal icing/glaze chocolate or fondant. It's a cross between sugar and shortbread cookies.
Make 15, 3 inch cookies, 1/4 inch thick.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 430 grams
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter 1cup, 226grams
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200grams
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp baking powder optional - check the notes
- 1/2 tsp Almond Extract (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Extract (optional)
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Sift together flour (3cups/430grams), baking powder (1 teaspoon) add salt (1/2 teaspoon), set aside.
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In a mixing bowl cream together room temperature butter (1 cup / 226 grams) and sugar (1 cup/200 grams), about 5 minutes, scrape the bowl twice. Butter creamed with sugar should be light and creamy in color.
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In a small dish whisk together egg(1) and vanilla extract(1 tablespoon). If using, whisk in almond (1/2 teaspoon) and lemon extract(1/2 teaspoon), set aside.
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Gradually add egg mixture into butter mixture. Beating well, till combined about a minute.
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Lower the speed of your mixer to low. Gradually in 3 additions add flour mixture. Scrape the bowl well after the last addition and beat on low speed until flour is blended in. At this stage you'll see chucks of cookie dough.
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Dust a a large mixing bowl with 1 tbs flour. Scrape the cookie dough into a bowl. Gather dough together. Using your hands knead the cookie dough for about 10-20 seconds, until dough comes together. Shape into a disk.
TIP : If dough appears too wet add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour.
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Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours. Or speed up the process by placing it into the freeze for 30 minutes to an hour.
TIP : If yo
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Preheat oven to 375F
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If you find that dough is hard as a rock, don’t panic. Quarter the dough. Take one piece and microwave on high for 5-8 seconds to soften it up a little. It shouldn't be super soft, just soft enough so you can roll it out, you’ll still need to apply little bit of pressure.
Cut up remaining dough into smaller pieces, set aside. Place microwaved piece between your rolling guides, either between 2 pieces of parchment or if you have large silicone mat you can use it also ( for the guides you can use 2 painter's sticks glued together on each side, or 2 pieces of 1/4 inch wood rods will work great, too).
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Cut out as many cookies as you can. Gather scraps and to the scraps add a fresh piece of cut up cookie dough you set aside. Re-roll and repeat until you are done with all the cookies. Place the cookies on a light colored baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the cut outs in the fridge for about 10 minutes, or in the freezer for 5.
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Bake for 10-11 minutes, depending on the oven, turn the sheet once half way through the baking.
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Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-7 minutes, transfer to cooling rack.
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Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or freeze undecorated cookies between pieces of wax paper in a large freeze safe container, for up to 3 months.
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Decorate cookies as desired with royal icing or other medium that you use.
WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE 4 HOURS TO CHILL THE COOKIE DOUGH?
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You can speed chilling process - place cookie dough in the freezer for one hour.
- Or you can roll the cookie dough between 2 pieces of parchment. Slide it onto a baking sheet or a freezer safe tray. Place the tray into the freezer for 20 minutes or 1 hour into the fridge. And cut out cookies.
HOW LONG CAN I KEEP THE DOUGH IN THE FRIDGE?
- You can keep the cookie dough in the fridge for up to 3 days. After that you can either make the cookies or freeze the cookie dough for later. Up to 3 months.
HOW THICK DO YOU ROLL OUT COOKIES FOR DECORATING
1/4 inch thick, and little thicker when making cookie pops.
CAN I USE THIS COOKIE DOUGH WITH TEXTURED MATS?
Yes, omit baking powder in the cookie dough for the best results. (see the blog post for samples of cookies with textured design on the top)
I DON'T HAVE GRANULATE SUGAR, CAN I USE POWDERED SUGAR?
Sure, you can use powdered sugar, use about 1 cup 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. Cookie made with powdered sugar has a tender crumb.
I CHILLED COOKIE DOUGH BUT NOW IT'S HARD AS A ROCK
After cookie dough is chilled it often become firm.
- There is no need to panic.
- Cut the cookie dough disk into quarters.
- Microwave one ¼ of cookie dough on high for 5-7 seconds. It should be sufficient to soften the dough so you can roll it out. However, you don’t want it to be super soft.
- Cut up remaining quarters into smaller bits.
- Place softened/microwaved 1/4 of the cookie dough onto the work surface, between 2 rolling guides. Place rolling pin on top of the rolling guides and roll out the cookie dough. Cut out cookies and transfer them onto a light colored baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Gather scraps and add one piece of chilled dough you set aside, re-roll and repeat.
TROUBLESHOOTING
- If you are experiencing inconsistent results omit baking powder or use less of it and up the temperature to 380F if you used 375F before.
- If your cookies become soft after you decorate them this is usually caused by increased humidity. I'd suggest you bake the cookie for a bit longer, so they are crispier to start with. And you can also use a dehumidifier while the icing on the cookies is drying.
- How to tell if cookie are baked : cookies when baked have puffy centers. If you see a spot that appears wet and shiny, usually in the center of the cookies, continue baking for additional minute or 2.
- Baked cookie that has a darker spot in the center on an underside is most likely underbaked.
FLAVORINGS
Lemon / Orange Zest Cookies – use 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon lemon extract
Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies – ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup brown sugar, micro chocolate chips (add these with flour), 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Almond Sugar Cookies - add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon almond extract. I find almond flavor to be very strong and 1 teaspoon does the trick for me but if you'd like to add even more extract you definitely can. Almond cookies pair really nicely with my Fresh lemon royal icing.
Spices - you can also add spices to this recipe, try cinnamon, cardamom or pumpkin spice to make them more seasonal.