Cookies - Butter Cut Outs K A
kingarthurflour.com
good flavor & texture, arrows on hearts & arrow cookies more fragile than the CI "classic" recipe tho they are sturdy
*opt to brush w egg white & sprinkle w sugar before baking has better texture-crisp-
Holiday Butter Cookies
These buttery sugar cookies roll out nicely, and have a beautifully tender/crisp texture. Flavor them to taste with your favorite extract; we love Fiori di Sicilia, a wonderful Italian flavor combining vanilla and citrus. Read our blog about these cookies, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Ingredients
- COOKIES
- 5 ounces confectioners' sugar
- 9 ounces salted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt + additional 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, or flavor of your choice
- (used 2 tsp vanilla extract plus 1/2 tsp almond extract)
- 11 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- .
- ICING
- (used Cookie Glaze & Outline-Toba Garrett-similar but dif proportions-see index for recipe)
- 10 ounces confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
- 1 1/4 ounces light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons, or up to 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon milk; enough to make a pourable/spreadable icing
- food coloring, optional
- 1 cup coarse sugar or colored sugar for decorating, optional
Preparation
Step 1
Directions
1) Combine the sugar, butter, egg yolk, salt, and flavor, beating till smooth.
2) Add the flour, mixing till smooth. The mixture will seem dry at first, but will suddenly become cohesive. If it doesn't, dribble in a tablespoon of water.
3) Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a flattened disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
4) Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and let it soften for about 20 to 30 minutes, till it feels soft enough to roll. It should still feel cold, but shouldn't feel rock-hard.
5) Sprinkle your rolling surface with flour, and flour your rolling pin. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it 1/8" to 3/16" thick.
6) Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. Re-roll and cut the dough scraps.
7) Place the cookies on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets. They can be close together; they'll barely spread.
8) Bake the cookies in a preheated 350°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're set and barely browned around the edges.
9) Remove from the oven, and cool right on the pan. If you've used parchment, you can lift cookies and parchment off the pan, so you can continue to use the pan as the cookies cool.
10) Repeat with the remaining piece of dough, rolling, cutting, and baking cookies.
11) When cookies are completely cool, ice and decorate.
12) Icing: Combine the sugar, milk, and corn syrup to make a soft, spreadable icing, adding more milk if necessary.
13) Tint the icing with food color as desired.
14) Spread icing on cookies, using a knife, a spoon, or your finger to spread it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other sugar decorations, as desired. Allow the icing to harden before storing the cookies.
Recipe summary
Hands-on time:
30 mins. to 60 mins.
Baking time:
12 mins. to 14 mins.
Total time:
2 hrs 42 mins. to 13 hrs 14 mins.
Yield:
5 dozen 2" cookies
Bake time for large Heart w/arrow cookies was 11 mins on convection
Tips from our bakers
If you use unsalted butter, increase the amount of salt in the recipe to 1 teaspoon.
To flavor cookies in alternate ways, try 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or 1 teaspoon almond extract, or a combination. For extra-strong flavors (eggnog, butter rum, etc.), start with 1/8 teaspoon, and flavor to taste.
To top cookies with colored sugar before baking (no icing necessary), reserve the egg white form the yolk you've used in the dough. Mix the white with 1 tablespoon water. Lightly paint the cookies with the egg white/water, sprinkle with colored sugar, and bake.