Holiday Sugar / butter cookies (cookie cutter friendly)

Good afternoon. Long time reader, first time poster. Reading these forums are a great way to make the work day go faster. I wonder what posting to these forums will do to my productivity....

Anyway, I'm writing because I'm looking for a good sugar cookie recipe. I need to make something suitable for rolling out and then using cookie cutters on. I have tried a couple in years past, and I'm really looking for a recipe that comes out with a really good cookie. I don't want it cracker-think, something with a little bit of softness to the texture, good butter flavor, and decent sweetness would be good. The ones I've tried all fall short of being a good cookie. If it helps, i'll be using "edge-only" cookie cutters. Kind of like a metal ring biscuit cutter. There won't be anything pressing on the face of the cookie to try to create an indentation design. So A little bit of height to the rolled out dough would be fine.

Is there such a thing as a good sugar cookie recipe that can be rolled out?

hi: I am very fond of the Williams-Sonoma "Sugar Cookies" recipe. It is very buttery and actually comes out more shortbread-y than sugary and I'm a sloppy roller and have managed to make some truly lovely cookies with the dough--from bats to butterflies and angels and pigs. At Halloween I never got around to icing the bats and pumpkins and my husband happily enjoyed a cookie or two each day with his coffee, he said they were just right, not too sweet or crispy.

I don't have a link but if you google Williams Sonoma recipes - sugar cookies you should get it.

Good luck!

bjt

There are thousands of recipes and many of them are great...but I have found that you can make a big difference by usins quality ingredients. One of my more recent revelations is using Plugra European Style Butter. Higher fat contact and lower water means WAY more buttery taste. The really good thing is that it is available at Trader Joe's and is very reasonably priced. I've also heard great things about the hard-to-get Land O' Lakes "Ultra-Creamy" butter.

In my grandma's handwriting on a completely grease-stained index card, now framed in my house, she always made these for Xmas, I learned how to roll dough on this recipe:

Animal Cookies

4 c. flour
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt

Cream like pie crust

2 eggs
2 scant cups sugar
4 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Moderate oven

****************************

That's all she wrote. I generally mix the second set of ingredients together and then add to the first, and yes you do treat it almost like pie dough, form it into a ball, let it rest in the fridge, roll out. Moderate oven, try 325. They should puff up a bit and barely begin to turn golden at the edges. BTW, they are nothing like animal crackers, she called them animal cookies because most of her cookie cutters were animal shapes.

She decorated with a simple 10X icing and the holiday decorations of your choice.

HI,

I found this interesting blog from Canada. They are presently featuring Christmas cookies. I linked to the Cheddar and cranberry cookie, which would seem to be at home at the cheese course as well as dessert. Look at the index, they have an idea for pomegranate pavlova's. Another intriguing dessert is Basil and Cinnamon Dark Chocolate truffles.

Regards,

Can anyone suggest a recipe for cut out cookies?

I've been making iced cut out cookies for the past few holidays, I've got my icing and frosting recipes down, but I just can't seem to find the cookie recipe I really like- they seem to come out too crisp or dry and not quite sweet enough.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

This came up at Christmastime inthis thread

I remember that string. I loved the Plurga recommendation and only use that for my cut out cookies now but I wasn't crazy about the Williams-Sonoma recipe. I might give the old school recipe in the Christmas time string a shot.

If anyone else has tried it and/or has any other recommendations, I'm listening. I'm planning on making a batch for Easter Sunday.

Here is my favorite sugar cookie (roll & cut out) which I got from a dear friend/coworker. On my last day working with him, he was kind enough to share his recipe:

"Jon's Super Sugar Cookies"


COOKIES:

* 3/4 cup margarine
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder


1. Cream margarine and sugar well.
2. Add vanilla and eggs; combine well.
3. In separate bowl, sift the baking powder, salt and flour. Add to wet ingredients slowly until thoroughly combined.
4. Cookie dough must be chilled until firm, or overnight.
5. Remove dough from fridge and roll out to a 1/4-inch thickness.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. With cookie cutters or rim of drinking glass, cut out cookies.
8. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on oven. Check often to prevent over cooking or burning. Cool on baking rack when done.
9. Meanwhile, prepare frosting



FROSTING

* 1 teaspoon real vanilla
* 1 stick real butter
* 4 cups powdered sugar
* 1 Tablespoon cream or whole milk


10. Cream butter, milk and vanilla together.
11. Slowly add powdered sugar to butter until desired consistency. If you'd like, add liquid food coloring for festive cookies
12. When cookies are cooled, slather this heavenly frosting. For more texture and color, press the top of the cookie in sprinkles, colored sugar or just eat plain!

This link for Martha Stewart's flag cookies will take you to my all time favorite sugar cookie recipe. The instructions give directions to make flag shaped and decorated cookies...just ignore ignore that part of the recipe. They hold up beautifully when made and frosted several days in advance. I wish I could still eat them as they are absolutely delicious!

veloute

I am making party favors (cookies on a stick) for my daughter's upcoming birthday. The pan/mold for the cookies comes with the "Wilton Vanilla Sugar Cookies" recipe and I was wondering if anyone had tried it.

I prefer soft cookies. Any suggestions for a good soft cookie that will hold shape and can be decorated with royal icing/frosting? Anyone tried the Wilton recipe?

Thanks.

I recommend the Cardamom Honey Cutouts from From Fine Cooking 89, pp. 72. You can also get the recipe if you subscribe to their website. I use just a little cinnamon in place of the cardamom-- it's very subtle. The honey gives them a good taste and keeps them moist. The accompanying royal icing recipe is good too.

foodie1 wrote:Here is my favorite sugar cookie (roll & cut out) which I got from a dear friend/coworker. On my last day working with him, he was kind enough to share his recipe:

"Jon's Super Sugar Cookies"

How many palm-sized cookies does this recipe make? I may have just accidentally agreed to make 200 decorate-able sugar cookies for an assisted living center. I have some hours of cookie-baking in my near future...

foodie1 wrote:Here is my favorite sugar cookie (roll & cut out) which I got from a dear friend/coworker. On my last day working with him, he was kind enough to share his recipe:

"Jon's Super Sugar Cookies"

One more question: can I use butter instead of margarine?

This was the recipe that my mother and later I used growing up for Christmas cookies--in fifth or sixth grade she told me if I wanted them I could make them myself. It’s from a Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1950’s, but I confirmed with my mother that it was the same one we used. Her cookbook also has a dark version not on the link which has substitutions to make the cookies darker and more gingery. Here it is:

1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup molasses
2 ¾ cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Mom said the cookbook was so caked over at this point (probably my doing) that she was unsure of the amounts of the following:
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger powder (You might try half tsps with both these ingredients.)

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together shortening and brown sugar. Add egg and molasses. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Chill dough for at least one hour. Roll out to ¼”; bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.

I loved both versions.

happy_stomach wrote:

foodie1 wrote:Here is my favorite sugar cookie (roll & cut out) which I got from a dear friend/coworker. On my last day working with him, he was kind enough to share his recipe:

"Jon's Super Sugar Cookies"

One more question: can I use butter instead of margarine?

Friends and I ended up making 200+ of these cookies on Friday. They turned out really well. And we used butter. This batch was rather crispy since it was getting later on in the night, we were very ready to retire our rolling pins and getting sloppy. but all of the other cookies we made were perfect for decorating and eating. I'd definitely make these again (but probably won't be baking for a very long time after 200 cookies).

happy_stomach wrote:Friends and I ended up making 200+ of these cookies on Friday. They turned out really well. And we used butter. This batch was rather crispy since it was getting later on in the night, we were very ready to retire our rolling pins and getting sloppy. but all of the other cookies we made were perfect for decorating and eating. I'd definitely make these again (but probably won't be baking for a very long time after 200 cookies).

Only 200 cookies? You're a lightweight

stevez wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:Friends and I ended up making 200+ of these cookies on Friday. They turned out really well. And we used butter. This batch was rather crispy since it was getting later on in the night, we were very ready to retire our rolling pins and getting sloppy. but all of the other cookies we made were perfect for decorating and eating. I'd definitely make these again (but probably won't be baking for a very long time after 200 cookies).

Only 200 cookies? You're a lightweight

Indeed, but I bet Chow Poodle didn't have to contend with a squeaky rolling pin or Shakespearean suspense and drama performed in the kitchen. (Yes, too much fun with rolling pins.)

happy_stomach wrote:Indeed, but I bet Chow Poodle didn't have to contend with a squeaky rolling pin or Shakespearean suspense and drama performed in the kitchen. (Yes, too much fun with rolling pins.)

No she didn't. She made me leave.

I have had success with this blogger's recipe. I like the pop of lemon zest in the cookie dough and keeps well. It bakes up soft, but firm enough to withstand handling while decorating. I have made party favors for a baby shower, a wedding shower, and of course, Christmas and Halloween. Here's a picture.

Pucca, those are delightful!

I especially love the mittens.

Pucca, as usual, those are beautiful...as a matter of fact, all the cookies in this thread are making me hungry...

Thanks!

In the future, I need take the time to draw out my design ideas on paper w/colored pencils. I am usually too lazy to do that beforehand b/c I get so easily burned out with baking when making these!

Stevez,

No offense to the CHowPoodle, but I think those are Spritz Cookies - which I love and were our "Christmas Cookie" growing up. But they are really fast to crank out with a cookie gun....

I feel like I have said this before, but I don't see a reply in this thread, so please forgive me if this is a repetition. I am partial to the Fine Cooking recipe for Cardamom Honey Cutouts.

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/card ... touts.aspx

It looks like this recipe does not require a subscription, so you may be in luck. This makes a tasty, well-behaved dough.

Here is an old photo of cookies we made with this recipe:

and the associated Royal Icing, which (as you can see) takes color very well.

Yeah, nothing says Christmas like black cookies:


Time to make some cookies for this year!
Cheers, Jen

I used to make holstein cows and zebras for christmas.

Hi,

If one of the big holidays on your calendar is March 17th, then these Celtic KNot cookies might be fun to make.

Regards,

Again, my multitude of cook books have let me down. I am looking for a simple sugar cookie recipie for my kids and their friends to decorate for Christmas. I will roll and cut them out in advance and set out the various frostings and sprinkles. Any simple recipe will be appreciated. Thank you

Hi forum!
I would certainly welcome a cookie recipe rec for cutouts (otherwise going with martha stewart), but am actually reviving this thread for advice on where to purchase decorating supplies. What retailers have a good selection of sprinkles, sanding sugars, etc?
Thanks!

They have quite a reasonable selection of Wilton products at Jo-Ann Fabrics on Elston including various kinds of luster and glitter.

Jo-Ann
2639 N. Elston Ave, Chicago IL 60647
(773) 227-7874