Vanilla Cut Out Sugar Cookies
These cut out cookies don't spread or rise - so they are perfect for decorating with royal icing. They are soft with a slight crispy bite.
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Servings: 24 Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup Granulated Sugar 250g
- 1 Egg
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 3½ cups All-purpose Flour 450g
- 2 tablespoon Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on high for about 2 minutes. The mixture should get fluffy and slightly lighten in color.
- In a small bowl, combine egg, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter and sugar mixture and beat on medium until the egg is fully combined. As soon as it is combined, stop beating.
- Measure the flour in a separate bowl and add about ½ cup at a time to the dough - beat on low. Continue adding in ½ cup increments until all the flour is incorporated. The dough will look a bit dry and be crumbly.
- Add the heavy cream and beat on high for 10-20 seconds - stop as soon as the mixture is all incorporated and the dough is cohesive. If you are using a stand mixer this will happen on its own. If you are using a hand mixer, you may need to knead the dough just a few times to get it to become cohesive.
- Tear two sheets of wax paper, laying one on the counter. Take half of the cookie dough and form a long log horizontally on the wax paper. Lay your ¼" or ⅜" dough sticks on either side of the dough and set the second piece of wax paper on top. Using your rolling pin, roll the dough out flat. Repeat this step with the second half of the dough.
- Place the sheets of dough flat in the freezer for 10-15 minutes until the dough is firm.
- Prep baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Once the dough is firm, remove it from the freezer and make your cut outs. Line them up on baking sheets. Keep cookies at least ½-1" apart.
- Re-roll excess dough (freeze again if necessary) and continue making cut out cookies. Try and get as many possible cookies out of the first two times you roll the dough. After it is rolled more than twice, cookies will become a bit tough (they will still taste good, just not as soft).
- Bake cookies for 11-14 minutes at 350 degrees. Rotate baking sheets halfway to help cookies bake evenly. Remove from the oven when you start to barely see the bottom corners of the dough darken.
- Let the cookies set on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool.