Description
This is Mom’s recipe and she made/makes these every Valentine’s and Halloween – in the appropriate shapes of course. The girls and I made some yesterday so that we could decorate them with their friend Brenna this morning, and then take them to school for the big Christmas Party. The icing that follows is Kyla’s recipe and it’s easy to work with (piping, spreading) and dries firmly but not too hard (it was also very easy to color).
**There are many, many cutout sugar cookie recipes out there! Deanna’s are best when rolled THIN, so they come out crispy and are truly best with a titch of (colored) icing and made into ‘cookie sandwiches’ – our favorite cutout sugar cookies to decorate are Sally’s, along with the Royal Icing posted with that recipe. Waverly (2025) is the current color/icing/decorating expert and we’ll update Sally’s as she has more advice to share**
Ingredients
1 c. (227 g) butter, room temperature AND 1 1/2 c. (180 g) icing sugar
1 egg AND 1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract
2 1/2 c. (313 g) flour
1 t. EACH baking soda AND cream of tartar
Kyla’s Icing – this makes a lot
1 c. (227 g) butter, room temperature
4 c. (480 g) icing sugar, sifted AND 1 t. vanilla
2 T. milk
Instructions
Using your electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the egg, vanilla and almond extract and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the 3 dry ingredients then add them in maybe a 1/2 cup at a time until it’s all well blended – you may need to use your hands at the end.
Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours (I made it the day before), then using about a third at a time, roll it out thinly (1/16 of an inch if you can) on a lightly floured surface, cut out your shapes and then carefully place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 for 5 to 7 minutes or until they are just barely starting to brown around the edges. I find it easiest/safest to allow them to cool completely on the pans.
Kyla made the icing the day before too and then put it in the fridge in a Ziploc. To make the icing, use an electric mixer and cream together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla – when it’s mixed, it will seem dry. Pour in the milk and mix again, this little bit of liquid will really fluff it up! Since the icing was premade, we left it on the counter until we were ready to use it and it was really easy to work with. Decorate or make cookie sandwiches as you wish – super fun activity with some kiddos!
- Category: Cookies, Christmas