Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe
*Special Supplies:
*Ghost Cookie Cutter (My ghost cutter is a vintage one I got from my mom, but you can find Ghost Boo on Etsy)
*Star Cookie Cutter
*Black Gel Food Coloring, Wilton
*Golden Yellow Food Gel Food Coloring, Wilton
*Red, no taste Gel Food Coloring, Wilton
Note: I made 12 Ghost Boo 12 Stars, cookie recipe will make more than 24 cookies or depending on the size of cookies. Recipe can make up to 48 cookies depending on the size of the cookies.
Ingredients:
*
*1/2 cup Butter
*1 cup Sugar
*1 teaspoon Vanilla
*1 Egg
*1/2 cup Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream, Sour Cream or Cream Cheese (I’ve used each one of these variations, each gives the cookie a slightly different taste and they’re all yummy!) Note: If you use cream cheese use only 3 cups of flour
*3 and 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour, more if needed (Dough should be slightly sticky)
*1 teaspoon Soda
*1/2 teaspoon Salt
*Note: When cutting out the round cookies, cut and then cut the circle in half before baking sugar cookies
Instructions:
In a stand mixer on medium-low speed cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the vanilla, egg and cream of your choice and mix just until combined.
*
Using Sifter, sift together in a bowl the flour soda and salt and slowly add to the creamed mixture, mixing on low just until barely combined. Dough should be slightly sticky. Do Not Over Mix!
*
Then divide the dough into 3 dough balls, flatten dough balls making disk shapes. Now wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or more.
*
Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the refrigerator and rollout disk on a floured surface with rolling-pin or use 2 pieces of plastic wrap, placing the dough disk in the center of 1 of the pieces of plastic wrap and the second piece on top of the dough disk, use rolling-pin and roll out the cookie dough about 1/2 inch thick.
*
Use a cookie cutter of your choice and cut out shapes in the rolled-out dough. Repeat for each dough disk. Then add to the next dough disk the scraps from the first disk or (discard scraps of dough), continue this technic until all the dough is used.
Place cookies on a Silpat covered half baking sheet, 12 cookies per sheet. For best results refrigerate the cut cookies on baking sheet before baking 5-10 minutes.
*
Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 425* F. oven for 8-12 minutes or barely starting to turn golden on the bottom; baking time depends on the size of cookie cutter used. Do Not Over Bake! If you do over bake they will become too hard. Cool on baking sheet.
Recipe from Tested Recipes Cookbook, Central Milling Company third edition, now out of print an old family cookbook.
Glacé Icing Recipe
Note: Double recipe if making more than 24 small medium cookies
Ingredients:
*2 cups Powder Sugar
*2 tablespoons Corn Syrup
*1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract or 1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract
*2-3 tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
*1/2 teaspoon Butter Flavored Crisco or White Shortening for extra white Icing
Instructions:
In a bowl add the above ingredients and beat/whisk with a hand mixer with whisk attachment and beat/whisk until smooth.
Divide Glaze icing into 4 bowls and add a different color food gel to each bowl leaving the most for the white icing bowl, then yellow and around 1/4 cup for the red and black.
***Use this recipe for glazing cookies and the piping of the outside of cookies. Piping helps contain the icing while you pipe flood/fill in the center of the cookies. Pipe on the white icing for the ghost first. Then the yellow stars and let them set overnight. I’m usually not that patient so I wait just until colors have set and add then pipe on the remaining colors. I also left an oval opening where the mouth goes free of icing so the icings won’t mix together. But for best results wait overnight befor piping additional colors.
Note: Cookies can’t be stacked on each other for best results.
***Use a pastry bag for each color of frosting you want to use. The small round tip for piping around the edge and then I used a plastic or Silicone Drip bottle with tip lid to fill in the center of the cookies which had a larger opening.
Coloring Icing:
Divide the icing into bowls, the number of bowls depends on how many colors you want to use. Add drops of food coloring until desired color. Repeat for each color see colors above. Note: Leave some of the icing white for decorating.
Add icing to decorating bags with tips or you can use disposable decorating bags and cut of the very end of the tips of the bag cutting small pieces at a time to get the size of hole you desire for piping.
Fill piping bags 2/3 full and twist top of bag to close. Then pipe on icing, make an outline around each cookie using a decorating bag with a small tip or a drip bottle with a small tip. Make a line of icing all around the edge of the cookie. Then use a slightly bigger round tip and flood the center of the cookie until filled. Repeat for each cookie.
Note: Make sure to let each of the colored icing set be for adding the next color.
Tips:
*To color your icing, you can use Wilton colorings or use your desired brand found at Walmart.
*Allow iced cookies to set 24 hours before storing in an airtight container.
*I usually make my cookies a day or two before icing them. You can also freeze cookies after baking and they have cooled completely. When ready to use remove cookies from the freezer and allow the cookies to come to room temperature before icing.
Icing Recipe adapted from The Decorated Cookie
Enjoy!
Jamie and Lindy
