Roll-and-Cut Sugar Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup seedless raspberry or apricot jam (for jam-filled cookies)
- Royal Icing, sprinkles, sparkles and dragees, for decorating
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour with the sugar and salt.
- Add the butter and mix at low speed until the butter is broken up into small pieces, about 2 minutes.
- Increase the speed to medium and mix until the flour and butter form small clumps, about 1 minute.
- Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix at low speed until the dough comes together in a few large clumps.
- Pat the cookie dough into two 1/2-inch-thick disks, wrap them in plastic and refrigerate until chilled but not firm, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick.
- Using 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
- Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies.
- (Alternatively, cut the dough into 3- to 4-inch shapes and, using a smaller cutter, stamp out the center of half of the cookies.)
- Refrigerate the cutout cookies until chilled, about 30 minutes.
- Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes, until they are lightly golden around the edges; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through for even baking.
- Let the sugar cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then, using a metal spatula, carefully transfer them to a rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- For sandwich cookies, spread a thin layer of raspberry or apricot jam on the solid cookies and top with the corresponding cutout cookies to expose the jam.
- Otherwise, decorate as desired with the Royal Icing, sprinkles, sparkles and dragees.
flour, sugar, salt, butter, egg yolks, vanilla, seedless raspberry, icing
Taken from www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roll-and-cut-sugar-cookies (may not work)