Roll-out sugar cookies in April?

But it’s not Christmas… or Halloween…. or Easter…. or any holiday.Yes, I know, but my holidays are usually too busy to fuss with roll-out sugar cookies. Roll-out sugar cookies take a big investment of TIME, and I don’t have much extra at the holidays. I always have good intentions and I have plenty of cute cookie cutters, but often the butter I softened on the counter ends up going back into the refrigerator or into a faster bar or candy recipe instead. These sugar cookie bars have become my back-up option for the holidays. They can be made festive for any occasion with a simple change of frosting color or choice of sprinkles.

I was asked to make treats for a mother’s tea at our church’s pre-school last week, and it seemed like the perfect time to make roll-out sugar cookies in spring shapes.

Testimonials:

I am not a big connoisseur of sugar cookies myself–I’d much rather have chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin or almost anything else–but true sugar cookie fans always rave about these. My friend Elaine is an avid fan and guess what? She even eats them PLAIN with no icing and LOVES them. She says, “they are just like my mama’s” and bring a happy memory to her mind.

I made these same spring mini cookies for a MOPS group a few years back to rave reviews. I had one woman seek me out to tell me they were the best cookies she had ever had and begged to have the recipe.

My friend Kristine and her kids are big sugar cookie fans and they made this recipe for a school event several years back. Apparently, there were several other batches of sugar cookies at the event, and they said this recipe was hands-down the best tasting.

I guess you’ll have to try them for yourself and let me know what you think.

Roll-Out Sugar Cookies {spring minis}

Yield: It will vary depending on the size of cutters and how thick you roll out the dough. For this batch, I got over 160 mini cookies plus about a dozen 3-4 inch cookies.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 and 1/4 cups (2 and 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract

For the icing:

For this bake, I used this glaze icing recipe from Cookie Crazie. It takes about two minutes total to make and gives you a tasty glaze that you can decorate with but also tastes good. It will dry enough for stacking cookies as well. The link has many tips about how to color and use the glaze.

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda with a whisk or fork. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter with sugars until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla (or almond extract) until combined. (Tip: I always do this by hand with a wooden spoon. Using a mixer will give you a different result.)

   

   

3. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture in three additions, mixing well between each. Use a wooden spoon or your hands to bring the dough together into a ball. The dough should come clear from the bowl but may still be a bit sticky.

   

   

   

4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour but preferably longer. Once chilled, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for a few minutes before rolling.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Prepare a lightly floured surface for rolling the cookies. Take a small portion of the chilled dough and flatten it with your hand on the floured surface. Flip it over and press it with your hand again. Begin rolling with a rolling pin. If the dough is still a little sticky, you might flip it over again into the flour or add a small amount of flour to the top of the dough. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch for best results.

   

   

7. Use cookie cutters in desired size/shapes to cut the dough. Try to space the cuts close together to use as much of the dough as possible. Place the cut-outs on a baking sheet with a little space between each cookie. (I always line mine with parchment paper or a silicon liner.) 
8. When the first piece of dough has been rolled and cut once, gather the scraps together and then pinch off another piece of the unrolled dough and combine. Repeat the flouring, rolling, and cutting process. Always combine the scraps from cutting with a piece of fresh dough from your bowl. (Tip: Using smaller portions of dough and then adding fresh dough to the cut dough will keep your cookies as tender as possible.)

   

   

9. Bake each pan on the middle rack of your oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. (Tip: Baking time may vary depending on how thick you cut the cookies, the type of pan you use, and the heat of your oven. Mine bake perfectly in 10 minutes. To keep the cookies soft, only bake until the cookies are set and very lightly golden on the bottoms.) Let cookies cool on the pan for several minutes before removing.

   

   

   

10. Once cookies are completely cool, frost and decorate with your favorite frosting recipe or leave them plain. These cookies can also be frozen ahead for icing at another time.

Source: My friend Connie

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Category: Christmas, Cookies, Desserts Tags: iced sugar cookies, roll-out sugar cookies

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