Holiday Cutouts Recipes

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIE CUTOUTS

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.

FROSTED HOLIDAY CUT-OUTS

Steps:

• Cookies:
• COMBINE sugar and shortening in bowl of electric mixer; beat at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, corn syrup and vanilla; beat until well blended and fluffy.
• COMBINE 3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl; gradually add to shortening mixture, beating at low speed until well blended.
• DIVIDE dough into 4 equal pieces; shape each into disk. Wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
• HEAT oven to 375 degrees F.
• SPRINKLE about 1 tablespoon flour on large sheet of waxed paper. Place disk of dough on floured paper; flatten slightly with hands. Turn dough over; cover with another large sheet of waxed paper. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove top sheet of waxed paper. Cut into desired shapes with floured cookie cutter. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
• BAKE 5 to 7 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet; transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
• Frosting:
• COMBINE powdered sugar and milk in small bowl; stir until smooth. Add food coloring, if desired. Stir until blended. Spread on cookies; let stand until frosting is set. Decorate as desired with decorator frosting.

CHEX® HOLIDAY CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Butter 15x10x1-inch pan. Coarsely crush cereal. (To easily crush cereal, place in plastic bag or between sheets of waxed paper, and crush with rolling pin.)
• In large microwavable bowl, microwave marshmallows and butter uncovered on High 2 to 3 minutes, stirring each minute, until mixture is smooth. Stir in crushed cereal. Using buttered back of spoon or hands, press firmly in pan. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• Cut into shapes with 2 1/2- to 3-inch holiday cutters (such as Fourth of July flag or star, Halloween pumpkin or ghost, Christmas tree or snowman, Hanukkah dreidel or star, Easter egg or bunny, etc.). Decorate with frosting and candies.

GRANDMA'S CHRISTMAS SPICE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Combine the first five ingredients. Whisk together remaining ingredients; add to molasses mixture and mix well. Refrigerate, covered, 3 hours or overnight., Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut into desired shapes with floured 2-in. cookie cutters; place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake until set, 10-12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

2020 HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS SUGAR COOKIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, melted butter and egg until soft dough forms.
• On floured surface, roll dough 1/4-inch thick. Cut with 4-inch house-shaped cookie cutter; on ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts 2 inches apart. Reroll dough, and cut additional cutouts.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In large bowl, beat powdered sugar, 1/3 cup warm water, meringue powder, vanilla and cream of tartar with electric mixer on low speed until mixed. Beat on high speed 7 to 10 minutes or until very stiff, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Spoon 1/3 cup icing (tint with food color, if desired) into small piping bag fitted with small round writing tip; twist bag to keep closed. Keep remaining icing covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying out; set aside.
• On each cookie, squeeze piping bag firmly and steadily, working counterclockwise to create an icing border (use photo as guide). Release pressure on piping bag to cut off flow of icing and complete border. Allow borders to set completely, 30 to 60 minutes, before filling in. Add any icing from piping bag into bowl of remaining icing; keep covered with plastic wrap.
• Uncover remaining icing; mix well. In small bowl, place 1 cup of the icing. Tint with food color, if desired. Stir in warm water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until icing is the consistency of heavy cream. (Make sure icing is mixed well before adding next 1/2 teaspoon water.) Pour thinned icing into squeeze bottle, and screw on top. Keep squeeze bottle tip and any remaining icing covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying out while decorating.
• Using squeeze bottle, on each cookie, fill inside of border with thinned icing. Use nozzle of squeeze bottle or small metal icing spatula to fill in all areas until completely covered. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes before adding any additional sprinkles. Let stand about 2 hours or until completely dry.
• Spoon 1/3 cup icing (tint with food color, if desired) into small piping bag fitted with small round writing tip; twist bag to keep closed. Pipe letters on top of dried glazed cookies. Let stand about 1 hour or until completely dry. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.

HOLIDAY CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, milk and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough into four portions. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate, covered, overnight or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in. holiday cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake until edges are lightly brown, 5-7 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough cream to reach a spreading consistency. If desired, beat in food coloring. Frost and decorate cookies as desired.

HOLIDAY CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Follow recipe for basic butter cookies, forming dough into 2 balls (instead of a log) and flattening each into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• While oven preheats, roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) into a 9-inch round (slightly less than 1/4 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, chill on a baking sheet until firm.) Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with cutters and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging cookies about 1 inch apart. If garnishing, sprinkle cookies with glitter or nonpareils.
• Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely.
• Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll only once) and bake on cooled sheets.
• If coloring icing, transfer 1/4 cup icing to a small bowl for each color and tint with food coloring (if using plain white icing, spoon into 1 bag). Spoon each color icing into a bag, pressing out excess air, and snip an 1/8-inch opening in 1 corner of each bag. Twist each bag firmly just above icing, then decoratively pipe icing onto cookies. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies.
• *Available at New York Cake & Baking Distributor (800-942-2539).

CHRISTMAS CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Shape into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm enough to roll, 2-3 hours., Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-in. cookie cutters. Place on ungreased baking sheets., Bake until edges begin to brown, 7-8 minutes. Remove from pan to wire racks; cool completely. , For frosting, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla and enough milk to reach desired consistency; tint with food coloring if desired. Spread over cookies. Decorate as desired.

DECORATED CHRISTMAS CUTOUT COOKIES

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.