My Favorite: Decorated Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs! (Holiday Baking, Part 11)

If there is one cookie that says "Merry Christmas" or, to be P.C. "Happy Holidays" it is the decorated sugar cookie. I know, I know...it's a lot of work (well, if done in stages it's not really that bad), but the payoff is wonderful. I have always loved the reactions I get from people about the beautiful and tasty cookies. This is pretty much my favorite part of all things baking, knowing that I've made something that has brightened someone's day just a bit. Now, I'm not bragging, really I'm not. If you make some decorated sugar cookies, decorated however you like, even if they look weird or funky to you, they will be a fabulous work of art to someone who knows the effort that went into these cookies. I tend to make brightly colored swirly cookies...I also make pig shaped cookies...I'm not sure why I make them, for some reason they seemed festive and no one but me questions their place amongst the stars and other seasonal shapes (sadly this year I will not be making the pig cookies because the cutter for them got lost in our cross country move this last April. I am bummed). I usually also make Dragonfly cookies, but I fear with the distance that many of my cookies will have to travel this year, that these will be too delicate (I also lost this cookie cutter in the move...so I wouldn't have been able to make them anyway. wah!). The fun part of these cookies is the decorating..and if you have little children, let them get in on the fun also. I went to a friend's house one year with baked cookies and icing so a group of kids could decorate them. It was awesome to see what they could come up with and obvious that they were having a good time. Enough of my praise of these cookies! Here is the recipe I use:

Sugar cookie cutouts:
(can't really tell you how many they make..It depends on the size and shape cookie cutter you have and how patient you are with rolling out and cutting cookies)

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
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-Cream together butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy (about 5 to 10 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.
-Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Chill the dough for a few hours or overnight.
-Preheat oven to 350f.

-Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch or less thick (depends on how big you want your cookies, but if they are a thicker cookie, you will need to bake them longer).
-Cut into any silly or festive shapes that you like, and place on parchement lined sheet pans. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

-Mix up your favorite kind of icing to decorate with (I just make something with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and a bit of salt, no real measurments, well, except to keep the salt to a teaspoon or so depending on how much you are making) color the icing and decorate away! Or use decorating sugar, dragees, etc...

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