Soft Cut- Out Sugar Cookies
These soft sugar cookies are delicious and perfect for decorating. They stay soft for about 2 weeks and even taste better. They will yield about 18-24 cookies depending on the size and thickness of the cookies.
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour plus extra for rolling (spoon and leveled)
- ½ teaspoon salt (avoid when using salted butter)
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
- Measure all the ingredients needed for the recipe and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, which the flour and salt together. Set aside
- In a different large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the buuter and sugar together on a medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. that will take about 1 - 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Add the eggs, vanilla and the lemon extract and beat on medium speed just until combined.
- With the mixer running at low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Divide the dough into two balls and flatten each ball into a round flat disc with your palm. Wrap each dough in plastic wrap and chill for about 2 hours.
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 C) and position the rack in the center of the oven. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the dough, place it on parchment paper and add another parchment paper on top. Place two ¼- inch rolling sticks on either side of the parchment paper and then use the rolling pin to roll out the dough to an even thickness.
- Use a medium cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes. Repeat with the second dough and place the cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared pan. Place the pan into the freezer to firm up the cut-out cookies for about 10- 20 minutes before baking. Gather the remaining dough and repeat.
- Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, or until the cookies have a ¼very light brown color at the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Decorate the cookies with any of the icing listed above and enjoy.
Notes
If the rolling of chilled dough is difficult for you, then roll dough into 1/4 inch thickness before chilling.
Nutrition
Calories: 160kcal
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