Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

It took a couple of days for my plunger finger to recover, but the sunflower cookies were a hit in Kinley's classroom on Kansas Day.

I have an old-fashioned cookie decorator set, and my "trigger" finger got tired after carefully decorating 30 cookies, using a leaf tip. But it made the most realistic-looking sunflower petals, so a little discomfort was just the way it was!

I spoke to one of the first-grade classes at Amanda Arnold Elementary School for Kansas Day at the request of Kinley's teacher, Jennifer Monaco. Jennifer grew up in Stafford, and her dad was Jill's middle and high school science teacher.

 It truly is a small world that Kinley ended up in Jen's classroom - a definite bonus for this Grandma!

When Jen asked me to come and read my farm counting book to the students, she also mentioned that they love cookies. What kid doesn't, right?! I asked Jill if she had a sunflower cutter. She didn't either. But, after some perusal, she ordered me a daisy cookie cutter from Amazon, saying that's what was shown for making sunflowers, too.  (She has Prime -and I don't - and I am cheap, so she had it shipped to me.)

Jen gave us these awesome Kansas tea towels. I'm using mine for the first time when I host PEO at my house today!

Thanks to Jill for also revamping her work schedule so she could help with farm bingo and other logistics. Thanks to Kansas Wheat for the bookmarks and pencils, as well as the Kansas Wheat pins we used for bingo prizes.

Jill also recommended the sugar cookie recipe as one that held its shape well. She used it for her Christmas cookies this year. So I went through the extra steps of bringing ingredients to room temperature and then chilling the completed dough before cutting them out. Even though I sometimes want to skip steps, I think those tips were critical to the successful cookies.

I had enough dough left to use a couple of heart cookie cutters for some Valentine shapes, too.

It seems all the professional cookie decorators use royal icing. It does make a beautiful cookie. But I'm a fan of actually using good-tasting frosting, so I used a buttercream to ice the cookies. I like using both vanilla and almond flavorings to boost the yumminess. And it's always fun to bring out my arsenal of sprinkles, too. (I used a chocolate disc in the middle of each sunflower cookie. You could also use chocolate chips or chocolate stars.)

Both Jill and I highly recommend this cookie recipe if you're looking to make cut-out sugar cookies. Enjoy!

But, first, a little bit of housekeeping: Mary Jo Taylor was the winner in my blog anniversary drawing. She chose to receive my book, "Count on It! Adventures from a Kansas Farm." Thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments! 

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction blog

3/4 cup salted butter, slightly softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla (or vanilla bean paste)
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Using a stand mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth, about 1 minute. (Note: Don't melt the butter. Just have it softened to room temperature.) Add the sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape the bowl to make sure the sugar and butter are well incorporated. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extract; beat on high until fully combined. Again scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add about half the mixture, just mixing until it's barely combined. Add the rest of the flour and continue mixing until just combined.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion onto a piece of parchment paper to about 1/4-inch thickness. Put on a baking sheet and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Don't skip the chilling step!

Once chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Use cookie cutters to cut as desired. If you are using a medium-sized cookie cutter (like the largest sunflower cutter in the photos above), it makes about 18 cookies. The heart cutters were smaller, so that translated to more cookies.

Bake for 9 to 12 minutes until very lightly colored on top and around the edges. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through baking. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Frost as desired, using buttercream icing and sprinkles.

Quick Vanilla Buttercream

Recipe from Food Network

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (I used 1/2 tsp. of each)
1 to 2 tbsp. whipping cream
In a standing mixer, mix together butter and shortening. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, incorporating after each addition. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla (or almond) and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Color the icing and decorate as desired. 

Notes:

• If you want, you can sprinkle the raw cutouts with colored sugar before baking. Then they are decorated without frosting.
• I am not a royal icing fan, but you could use a royal icing to frost these cookies. For a recipe for that, check out Sally's Baking Addiction. (Note: I did not try her frosting recipe).
• I doubled the recipe, using my Kitchenaid mixer. I would NOT try to triple the recipe because it would be difficult to get the cookie dough mixed. (Jill said she tried tripling at Christmas and it didn't work. So we are saving you the trouble!) When doubling the recipe, I divided the dough into four parts and rolled each part to 1/4-inch thickness.
• I am a big fan of vanilla bean paste. It's expensive, but it provides lots of flavor. 
• If you want step-by-step photos, Sally's Baking Addiction has those for you.

Sweet Treats

We've all been there: You see a cute idea in a magazine or on Facebook or Pinterest and think, "How hard can that be?" And then your version needs a caption to explain what you were attempting.

But, this time, I think the County Line versions turned out pretty cute, though not as perfect as the air-brushed magazine photos.

I needed to make about 3 dozen sugar cookies for a project at school, so I kept my eyes open for something cute, but simple enough that I could replicate it - without a disclaimer. These round cookies decorated to look like Christmas tree ornaments fit the bill.

 

But I had to do a little revision. Most of the professionally decorated cookies use a hard, smooth glaze. It's pretty and all, but I like my cookies with buttercream icing, tinged with a little almond extract for extra flavor. I'll sacrifice a little smoothness for a tastier product.

I used an unwrapped Reece's Peanut Butter Cup mini for the ornament hanger. (They come in a bag and you can find them in the candy section of your grocery or discount store.) You can also use a wrapped or unwrapped Rolo candy. 

For some, I used the regular-sized holiday M & Ms, but the mini ones were probably cuter, though a little more time consuming to place each one.

Grab some elementary-aged kids, and they could help make them, too. Preschool kids would likely not be able to arrange them in rows, but polka dot ornaments could be cute, too, don't you think?

For the other half of the cookies, I tried to make them look like snowflakes. Back when Jill was in 4-H and we were in charge of 4-H foods and nutrition meetings, we made something similar for one of our Christmas treat gatherings.

I don't know how much they look like snowflakes, but I think people will get the idea. They could also be used for "Frozen" parties (and I happen to know a little girl named Kinley who will be turning 3 soon and celebrating with a Frozen Princess party)! 

I do have a word to the wise, though. I combined white and silver glitter sugars and sprinkled them over the white frosting. Then, when I tried to pipe on the blue frosting to make the snowflake, it wanted to lift off the sugar. So much for trying to add any more intricate detail! This was as good as it got!

Next time, I'll pipe on the snowflakes first, then sprinkle with the glitter sugar. Just to reinforce the idea, I placed some snowflake sprinkles on the blue icing. 

To give as individual treats, carefully put them in plastic treat bags and tie with colored ribbon. I used Wilton shaped party bags, which made it easier to package. However, regular fold-over plastic sandwich bags would work, too.

To make the cookies from scratch, you can use this recipe for No-Roll Sugar Cookies. (For these decorated cookies, you can just roll them in regular sugar, rather than colored, if you'd prefer.)

But, to save time and effort, you could also slice and bake the sugar cookie dough you find in the refrigerator case at the grocery store or purchase plain sugar cookies from the grocery store bakery. 

For the frosting, check out this tried and true one from my kitchen. (And if you only have time for sugar cookie bars, there's a good recipe for those at that link, too!)

Merry Christmas from my kitchen to yours!