Cut Out Butter Cookies Food

BEST BUTTER COOKIES (CUTOUTS)

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Add in egg and beat well. Beat in orange juice and vanilla.
• Combine flour and baking powder and gradually beat inches.
• Chill dough for about 1 hour.
• After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 400.
• Roll dough on to lightly floured surface to about 1/8-1/4" thick. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Sprinkle w/ colored sugars, if desired.
• Bake at 400 for 6-9 minutes (depending on cookie size) or until edges just slightly golden.

OLD-FASHIONED CUT OUT FROSTED BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the egg, milk and vanilla.
• Now blend in the dry ingredients flour, baking powder and salt until dough is formed. If desired you can chill for an hour for easier handling. I've never done this and the dough always rolled out fine for me.
• Divide the dough in thirds. On a lightly floured board roll out the dough to about 1/8th inch thickness. Using cookie cutters cut into shapes and place on a cookie sheet.
• Bake in oven for about 5 to 8 minutes until lightly golden brown. Cool on a rack.
• SPECIAL NOTE: You can use vanilla extract but I think vanilla paste makes these cookies taste even more special using vanilla paste.
• I use vintage Christmas cookie cutters where i found on Ebay. I bought vintage cooper cookie cutters instead of the aluminum ones due to safety concerns regarding the use of aluminum. But you can use modern cookie cutters and you can make these anytime not just for Christmas.
• Please see my recipe for Creamy Vanilla Frosting where I will be giving some decorating suggestions. =).

CUT-OUT BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Divide dough in half; form into two 1/2-inch-thick disks. Wrap in plastic; chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a piece of floured waxed paper, roll one disk to a thickness of 3/16 inch; chill. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Flouring cutters as you go (to prevent sticking), cut dough into desired shapes; carefully transfer to baking sheets. Re-chill rolled-out dough if difficult to work with.
• If decorating, brush with egg wash, then sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles. Bake until edges are firm (not brown), 15 to 20 minutes for 3-inch cookies. Cool 1 to 2 minutes on baking sheets; cool completely on a wire rack.

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.

OLD FASHIONED BUTTER COOKIES WITH BUTTER FROSTING

Steps:

• Beat 1 cup softened butter with white sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Beat egg, whole milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract into butter mixture until smooth. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and gradually stir dry ingredients into moist ingredients to make a smooth dough. Chill dough in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Dust a pastry cloth or kitchen towel generously with flour.
• Divide dough into thirds and roll each third out 1/8-inch thick on the prepared pastry cloth. Cut shapes out of the rolled dough with cookie cutters. Place cookies onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are barely browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.
• Beat 1 cup softened butter, 3 cups confectioners' sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract, and evaporated milk in a bowl until smooth. Gradually stir 6 cups confectioners' sugar into mixture until combined. Beat frosting hard until fluffy; stir in additional evaporated milk or confectioners' sugar if needed to reach desired consistency. Frost cooled cookies.

BEST EVER CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients to form a soft dough. Divide dough into 2 pieces, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Dough is sticky so be sure to add more flour to the rolling surface as needed. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

EASY CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Process nuts in food processor until finely ground. Add flour, dry pudding mix, sugar and baking powder; pulse until blended.
• Add cream cheese and butter; process just until blended. With food processor running, add egg through feed tube at top of processor, processing until blended. (Dough might look crumbly.)
• Place dough on lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Divide dough in half. Roll out one portion on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness; cut into assorted shapes using 3-inch cookie cutters, rerolling scraps as necessary.
• Place cutouts, 1 inch apart, on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake 10 to 12 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 3 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

VANILLA BUTTER CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle., On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with lightly floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. , Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Decorate as desired.