Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookie Food

SOFT CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium-low speed until smooth (about 1 minute).
• Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract and mix on medium speed until combined.
• Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then add the flour, cornstarch, and salt.
• Mix on medium-low speed until a stiff dough forms (about 1 minute). If the dough is too sticky to handle, try mixing in a little more flour.
• Roll the dough to 1/4-inch thick (rolling pin rings ensure an even and exact thickness) between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
• Remove the top sheet of parchment, and cut shapes with a 3-inch heart cookie cutter.
• Peel the shapes from the bottom layer of parchment, and place on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, or until just barely beginning to turn golden on the bottoms.
• Cool completely, then frost with sour cream icing.
• Place the butter, sour cream, powdered sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whip on medium speed until smooth.
• Tint with pink food coloring, and garnish with white nonpareil sprinkles and white sugar pearls.

SOFT SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it is soft and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
• Add the softened cream cheese and continue to beat for 1 minute, until well incorporated.
• Add the sugar and beat well, 1-2 minutes, until fluffy.
• Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat well. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. This is my spatula that I love and use for every baking project.
• Add salt and flour and beat until just barely combined, scraping the sides and bottom again. Do not stir too much or you will make your dough tough. The dough is pretty sticky!
• Scrape the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap (or into a ziplock or tupperware). Cover or wrap tightly and put it in the fridge for 2 hours (or overnight) or in the freezer for 1-2 hours. (If I am in a hurry I will split the dough in half and wrap separately so that it will chill faster.)
• When the dough is completely chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line 2-3 baking sheets with silpat baking mats or parchment paper.
• Prepare a work surface with a light dusting of flour.*
• If you have not already split the dough in half, do so now. Put any dough that you are not working with in the fridge.
• Use floured hands to flatten out the dough a bit, then use a rolling pin to roll it and smooth it out a little bit. Don't go too crazy here, remember we want the cookies to be THICK, about 3/8 inch. I actually busted out the measuring tape for this step. No crisp cookies, please.
• Lightly dust your chosen cookie cutters with flour. Press firmly into the dough, utilizing your space wisely. Use your finger or a knife (depending on the shape) to wipe away the excess flour/dough on the outer edge of the cookie cutter before pushing them out onto the pan. This helps you get clean lines.
• Place the shaped dough on the prepared baking sheet. If you are using multiple cookie cutter shapes, bake all of the same shape on the same pan. Otherwise your smaller cookies will get over baked. Leave at least 1 inch in between each cookie.
• If you've taken long enough that your shaped cookies are no longer chilled, place the baking sheet in the fridge or freezer for a couple minutes.
• Scrape together the excess dough and knead it together once or twice (as little as possible), then roll it out again to 3/8. Don't overwork the dough! (It will get tough.) Continue until the dough is gone. Refrigerate the dough as necessary. They should go into the oven cool.
• Bake the shaped cookies at 350 for about 9 minutes for smaller cookies, and about 10-11 minutes for larger cookies. Do NOT over bake. You do not want the edges or tops to brown at all. The cookies should be barely browned on the bottom. See photos.
• Leave the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes, then immediately transfer to a large tupperware and cover until they are completely cooled and you are ready to frost.
• Frost cookies with The BEST Buttercream Frosting for Sugar Cookies!

CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIE CUT-OUTS

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Put the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer) and beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle as needed, about 4 minutes more. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat until smooth.
• Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle as needed. Mix until incorporated.
• Divide the dough in half and shape into two flattened disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. Remove the dough from the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before rolling, to soften.
• Position oven racks to the upper and lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Now flour parchment for rolling: Dust a piece of parchment with flour, place a disk of dough on it, dust the disk with flour, then cover it with a second piece of parchment. Roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes with 11/2- to 2-inch cookie cutters. Gather up the scraps, re-roll and cut out. (Chill the scraps if the dough becomes too soft.) Roll and cut out the remaining disk of dough. Working in batches, arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake the cookies until the tops look dry and no indentation is left when pressed with your finger, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then use a metal spatula to transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
• Decorate with royal icing as desired. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Mix on medium-low speed until pure white and stiff enough to form peaks.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring if using and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Store at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface for up to 2 days. Re-whip until smooth before using.

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.

KITTENCAL'S BUTTERY CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIES W/ ICING THAT HARDENS

Steps:

• For cookies; in a large bowl combine butter with sugar, eggs, vanilla and almond extract; beat using an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy.
• In another bowl combine the flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the butter mixture until well blended.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
• Set oven to 400°F.
• Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (do not grease cookie sheets use parchment paper only).
• On a very lightly floured surface roll out the dough into about 1/4-inch thickness.
• Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters.
• Place cookies 2-inches apart on cookie sheet.
• Bake 4-6 minutes.
• Remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely before icing.
• For the frosting; in a small bowl mix the confectioners sugar with milk (start with 1-2 tablespoons, you will likely need more milk for the perfect spreading consistency).
• Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until the icing is smooth and glossy (if the icing is too thick add in a small amount more of corn syrup).
• Divide into as many separate bowls as you wish for different colours.
• Add in food colouring until desired intensity is achieved.
• Paint the icing over the cookies using a brush, or dip edges of cookies into icing.
• Allow to set on waxed paper.

FLUFFY "CUT-OUT" SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• beat well 3 eggs in a small side bowl.
• mix in large bowl moisten butter (20 sec microwave should do it, if you forgot to set the butter out to soften on its on, just softened not melted), sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend well.
• Next add baking soda, salt, baking powder � mix well.
• Add sour cream �mix well.
• Add flour one cup at a time, once get to six cups only add a little at a time till you get the right consistency (use aprx. 6.5 cups).
• Put in freezer or fridge for a little while to make easier to handle.
• Roll out and cut into you favorite shapes. I like to place on parchment paper on my pans so they come off easy.
• Cook @ 325º until done (approx. 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness) Watch them closely dont over bake. Don't wait till they turn brown. I always watch the surface of the cookies when they are raw they look shiny once cooked they are matte.
• let cool then frost with your favorite icing recipe and decorate.