Holiday Cutouts

Serves: 5

Mckayla Mann

1 January 1970

Based on User reviews:

51

Spice

52

Sweetness

49

Sourness

37

mins

Prep time (avg)

4.4

Difficulty

Ingredients:

Directions:

1

Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk

2

Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour

3

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

4

(If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm

5

) 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

6

If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils

7

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

8

Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes

9

Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets

10

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)

11

Spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 corner of each bag

12

Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies

13

Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies

14

Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk

15

Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour

16

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

17

(If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm

18

) 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

19

If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils

20

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

21

Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes

22

Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets

23

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)

24

Spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 corner of each bag

25

Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies

26

Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies

27

*Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539)

28

*Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539)