Holiday Cutouts Food

HOLIDAY GINGER CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, molasses and vinegar; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness and cut into desired shapes. Place 1 in. apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool. , For icing, stiff confectioners' sugar and meringue powder into a large bowl. Add water; beat on low speed until blended. Beat on high for 5-6 minutes or until soft peaks form. Place a damp paper towel over bowl and cover tightly until ready to use. , Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert round tip. Fill bag with 1 cup icing. Outline each cookie with icing. Tint remaining icing with food coloring if desired. Add water, a few drops at a time, until mixture is thin enough to flow smoothly. Prepare additional pastry or plastic bags with thinned icing. Fill in cookies, letting icing flow up to the outline. , Let cookies dry at room temperature overnight. With food coloring and small new paintbrush, paint designs on dry icing. Store cookies in airtight containers.

FROSTED HOLIDAY CUT-OUTS

Steps:

• Cookies:
• COMBINE sugar and shortening in bowl of electric mixer; beat at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, corn syrup and vanilla; beat until well blended and fluffy.
• COMBINE 3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl; gradually add to shortening mixture, beating at low speed until well blended.
• DIVIDE dough into 4 equal pieces; shape each into disk. Wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
• HEAT oven to 375 degrees F.
• SPRINKLE about 1 tablespoon flour on large sheet of waxed paper. Place disk of dough on floured paper; flatten slightly with hands. Turn dough over; cover with another large sheet of waxed paper. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove top sheet of waxed paper. Cut into desired shapes with floured cookie cutter. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
• BAKE 5 to 7 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet; transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
• Frosting:
• COMBINE powdered sugar and milk in small bowl; stir until smooth. Add food coloring, if desired. Stir until blended. Spread on cookies; let stand until frosting is set. Decorate as desired with decorator frosting.

HOLIDAY CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• While oven preheats, roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) into a 9-inch round (slightly less than 1/4 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm.) Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with cutters and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging cookies about 1 inch apart. If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils.
• Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely.
• Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets.
• If coloring icing, transfer 1/4 cup icing to a small bowl for each color and tint with food coloring (if using plain white icing, spoon into 1 bag). Spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 corner of each bag. Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies.
• *Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539).