Hanukkah Cutout Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and extract. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, 2 hours., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in. cookie cutters. Place cutouts 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake until set (do not brown), 10-12 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. For frosting, in a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, water and meringue powder; beat on low speed just until combined. Beat on high 4 minutes or until soft peaks form. Cover frosting with damp paper towels between uses., Pipe icing on cookies as desired. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. In large bowl, mix 1/3 cup powdered sugar, the butter, honey, 1 teaspoon almond extract and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until well blended.
• On lightly floured, cloth-covered surface, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place about 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.
• Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• For almond glaze, in medium bowl, mix 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until spreadable.
• For blue frosting, in another medium bowl, mix 1 cup powdered sugar and enough water to make frosting that can be easily drizzled or used in a decorating bag yet hold its shape. Stir in 3 or 4 drops food color.
• Spread almond glaze over cookies. Decorate with blue frosting.

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in one egg yolk until completely incorporated. Beat in the other egg yolk along with the orange juice and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into desired holiday shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Wisk together flour and salt. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar, and continue to beat until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides of bowl, about 2 minutes more. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture, and mix on low speed, scraping sides if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed with fingers.
• Turn out dough, forming into 2 disks; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out 1 disk to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out shapes using desired cookie cutter, and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Reroll scraps. Repeat with remaining disk. Indent cookies with desired stamps. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes. Bake until firm and golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Steps:

• For cookies:
• Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in large bowl until light. Beat in egg, lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Add to butter mixture and stir until well combined. Divide dough into 3 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each in plastic and chill 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out 1 dough piece on lightly floured surface to thickness of 1/8 inch. Using Hanukkah cookie cutters dipped into flour, cut out cookies. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheets, spacing evenly. Gather scraps, reroll and cut out additional cookies, chilling dough if necessary. Bake until cookie edges are golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool. Repeat rolling, cutting and baking with remaining dough pieces in batches.
• For icing
• Place sugar in bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons milk and lemon juice. Add more milk if icing is too thick to pipe. Transfer half of icing to another bowl. Mix food coloring into half of icing.
• Spoon plain and colored icings into separate pastry bags fitted with small round tips or into parchment cones. Pipe icings decoratively onto cookies. Let stand until icing sets, about 2 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store cookies in single layers in airtight containers.)