Buttery Cut Out Christmas Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Chill until firm, 1 hour. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in thickness. Cut out with Christmas cookie cutters of your choice. Using a floured spatula, transfer cookies to greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° until lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks., Decorate cookies with frosting and colored sugars.

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder salt, nutmeg and cloves; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Chill for at least 1 hour. , On a lightly floured surface, roll dough, a portion at a time, to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Decorate as desired with frosting or confectioners' sugar., To Make Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days in advance. Wrap in plastic and place in a resealable bag. Store in the refrigerator., Freeze option: Freeze undecorated cookies in freezer containers. To use, thaw in covered containers and decorate as directed.

Steps:

• Divide dough in half; form into two 1/2-inch-thick disks. Wrap in plastic; chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a piece of floured waxed paper, roll one disk to a thickness of 3/16 inch; chill. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Flouring cutters as you go (to prevent sticking), cut dough into desired shapes; carefully transfer to baking sheets. Re-chill rolled-out dough if difficult to work with.
• If decorating, brush with egg wash, then sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles. Bake until edges are firm (not brown), 15 to 20 minutes for 3-inch cookies. Cool 1 to 2 minutes on baking sheets; cool completely on a wire rack.

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, the butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, almond extract and egg until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured surface, roll each half of dough 3/16 inch thick. Cut into assorted shapes with cookie cutters, or cut around patterns traced from storybook illustrations. If cookies are to be hung as decorations, make a hole in each 1/4 inch from top with end of plastic straw. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In medium bowl, beat all frosting ingredients until smooth and spreadable. Tint with food color if desired. Frost and decorate cookies as desired with frosting and colored sugars.

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. On low speed, beat in egg, lemon peel and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until well blended.
• Divide dough into 4 parts; flatten each part into 1/2-inch-thick round. Wrap each in waxed paper or plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Remove 1 round of dough at a time from refrigerator. Between sheets of floured waxed paper or plastic wrap, roll dough until 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Cut with 3-inch cookie cutters in various shapes. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts 1 inch apart.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes or just until edges are golden. Cool on cookie sheets about 1 minute before removing to cooling rack. To make cookies for hanging, using a toothpick or end of plastic straw, carefully poke a hole in the top of each cookie while cookies are still hot. Cool 10 to 15 minutes before frosting.
• In medium bowl, stir together powdered sugar and meringue powder. Stir in 5 teaspoons lemon juice and enough of the 4 to 5 tablespoons water to make a thin icing. Transfer 1/2 cup of the icing into small bowl; set aside. Using a flexible pastry brush, paint cookies to the edges with icing. Place on cooling rack to dry completely, about 30 minutes.
• Beat reserved icing with electric mixer on high speed 5 to 7 minutes or until peaks form. Place in small resealable food-storage plastic bag; cut a very small hole in the bottom of the bag with the plain white icing. Squeeze icing onto glazed cookies. Before icing dries, sprinkle with decorations, and tap off excess. Dry thoroughly on cooling rack. Thread cookies with narrow ribbon for hanging.

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.

Steps:

• Combine the first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
• Beat at about medium speed until well combined and creamy, about 3-4 minutes.
• Gradually add flour, and beat until well mixed, about 2-3 minutes more.
• Divide dough in half, and wrap each on in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate until firm, at least two hours.
• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Roll out dough half on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4" thick.
• Keep the other half in the fridge until ready to use.
• Cut out the shapes your prefer, using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter.
• Place 1" apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• (I lined my sheets with nonstick "release" foil).
• If I'm making Christmas cookie shapes, I sprinkle the cookies with red, green, or multi-colored sugars before baking.
• Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are just slightly browned.
• Note: I find 8 minutes is the magic number for my oven. These cookies may also be baked plain, and decorated with icings after they are cooled.

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients until fully absorbed. Cover dough, and chill for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a clean floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are barely brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.