Brown Sugar Cutout Cookies Food

BROWN SUGAR CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, water, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough into four portions. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/4-in. fluted square cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets., Bake 7-9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For icing, in a small bowl, beat butter, meringue powder, cream of tartar and salt until blended. Beat in confectioners' sugar alternately with enough water to reach a spreading consistency. Spread over cookies. Let stand until set.

BROWN SUGAR CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper
• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
• Slowly add dry ingredients into the mixer until just combined. Do not overwork the dough or your cookies will come out tough!
• Turn the cookie dough out onto a surface dusted with powdered sugar. Use a powdered sugar covered rolling pin to roll out the dough to about 1/4 of an inch.
• Cut shapes with your favorite cookie cutters and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of room between each shape.
• Freeze the cut-outs for 8-10 minutes until the dough is firm.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are barely golden. Do not overbake.
• Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
• To make the royal icing, combine powdered sugar, meringue powder, vanilla extract, room temperature water and salt in a small bowl. For thicker icing use less water. To thin it out, add water 1 tsp at a time.
• Divide white icing into separate bowls and use gel food coloring to make desired colors.
• Decorate cookies and use plenty of festive sprinkles!

SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

SUGAR COOKIES 2.0

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside.
• Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start the mixer on low, then gradually increase the speed to medium and continue to beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the temperature of the butter.
• Slow the mixer to low and add the egg, followed by the milk, then return to medium speed and beat until smooth, about 30 seconds. Then, slow the mixer yet again, gradually add the flour, and mix until dough comes together, about 30 more seconds.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and split into two equal portions. Form these into balls, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F with the oven racks in the upper middle and lower middle positions. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Use a small strainer or sifter to sprinkle your rolling surface with confectioners' sugar. Remove 1 dough from the refrigerator, place on the sugar-dusted counter, and dust with a little additional sugar. Working quickly (so the butter doesn't have time to melt), roll the dough to a quarter-inch thickness. (I use pastry guides for this.)
• Cut dough into desired shapes and place at least 1 inch apart on the prepared sheet pans. Re-roll the scraps one time and cut into additional cookies. Discard any remaining dough; do not re-roll a second time. (Okay, I admit I eat it raw, but that's me.) Bake both pans of cookies, rotating halfway through baking time, until the cookies are just brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on the pans for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• While the first batch is baking, roll and cut the second half of the dough. Bake and cool the second batch, then decorate as desired...or don't. Frankly, they're plenty good with no icing at all.

GLAZED BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Gradually stir in flour and mix well. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Roll dough to 1/3-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in. shaped cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake until bottoms are lightly browned, 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely., For icing, in a large bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, 5 tablespoons water and meringue powder; beat on low speed just until blended. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, 4-5 minutes. Thin with remaining water to desired consistency. Tint 1 cup of icing with food coloring; transfer to a pastry bag. Leave remaining icing white or tint a second color; transfer to a shallow dish. Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth. If necessary, beat again on high speed to restore texture., Dip a cookie into icing in dish; remove excess. Drizzle with icing in pastry bag. Use a toothpick to swirl the 2 colors together. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. Let stand at room temperature until frosting is dry and firm, several hours. Store in an airtight container.

BROWN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat the brown sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes; beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed until completely incorporated. Divide the dough in half, pat into 2 discs about 1/4 inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes to make rolling easier. Roll out 1 disc of dough at a time between 2 pieces of parchment paper until 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes with the cookie cutters and arrange about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
• Gently gather any scraps into a ball and press into a disc; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the disc until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour. Cut out as many cookies as possible and bake.
• For the royal icing: Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 1/3 cup water with an electric mixer in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Beat in the food coloring if using. (The icing can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
• Decorate the cookies with the icing; top with decorating sugar and sprinkles if using.

CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Form into a fat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place disk of dough on it, and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the cookies a little apart on 2 parchment or silpat lined baking sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 12 minutes; obviously it depends on the shape you're using and whether they are on the upper or lower shelf, though you can swap them around after about 5 minutes. When they're ready expect them to be tinged a pronounced gold around the edges; they'll be softish still in the middle, but set while they cool.
• Remove the cookies with a flat, preferably flexible, spatula to a wire rack. When they are fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of not-quite-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved confectioners sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Color,as desired. I think pastes are much better than liquid, not just because the range of colors is better but because they don't dilute the icing as they tint. Ice cooled cookies, as desired.

CHRISTMAS CUTOUT SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. In another bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy and light. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, a third at a time to make a stiff dough. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll out a portion of cookie dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Place on lightly greased or nonstick cookie sheets. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minute, rotating baking sheet halfway through cooking time. Cool completely on pans about 5 minutes, transfer to cooling racks and cool completely before decorating.
• In a small bowl, mix sugar and water to form a thick, smooth icing. Stir in food coloring to reach desired shade. Drop icing onto cookies using a small teaspoon and smooth with the back of the spoon. Make additional bowls for additional colors.
• Additional multi-colored sprinkles can be added on top of icing before it dries for more decorative cookies, if desired.

BROWN SUGAR CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.
• In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and brown sugar until combined. Reduce speed to low and beat in egg until blended. Beat in flour mixture until combined, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula.
• Shape dough into two balls; flatten each slightly. Wrap one ball in waxed paper and refrigerate while working with the other half.
• On a lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll 1 ball of dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cookie cutters, reserving the trimmings to re-roll.
• Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. Sprinkle with granulated sugar if desired, or bake without sugar and frost when cooled.
• Bake until edges begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
• Repeat with remaining dough.