Even with busy schedules, people take time to bake during the holidays. In addition to cakes and pies, they spend a lot of time in the kitchen making cookies. If you plan to bake cookies this year, you’ll love this recipe. For one thing, the cookies are delicious. For another, this holiday recipe is easy to follow.
Cutout cookies are one of the most popular. After all, you get to make a variety of shapes. In addition, you can make them with your kids. The problem is that not all recipes produce good results. So, this year, use a holiday cookie recipe that’s not only easy but guaranteed to make yummy cookies.
Cookie Dough Ingredients
First, you’ll need to gather all the necessary ingredients:
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup shortening (not oil)
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons each of vanilla and almond extract
- 6 tablespoons evaporated milk
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting Ingredients
Along with the ingredients for the cookies, you’ll need a few things to make the frosting:
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 to 6 tablespoons half-and-half
- Food coloring (colors based on the holiday)
- Sprinkles (several different kinds)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Now comes the fun part of putting it all together. For the cookies, put the butter, shortening, and sugar in a mixer. Blend until fluffy. Then, add the milk, eggs, and both the vanilla and almond extract. In a large bowl, blend the flour, baking soda, and salt. With that done, add the mixture to the dough. You can do this with a spatula or a mixer.
With everything blended, divide the dough so that you have four different portions. Shape one portion into a disk, followed by placing it in plastic wrap. Do the same with the other three portions. Then, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 to 12 hours. Remove it when the dough’s firm enough to roll out.
At that point, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While it’s heating, sprinkle a flat surface with a little flour. Next, roll each portion of dough to about 1/8-inch thick on the floured surface. Now, you and your kids can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes.
For this recipe, cookie cutters no larger than three inches in diameter work best. Carefully place the cutout cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Because they’ll expand while baking, be sure to place them an inch apart. Bake the cookies for five to seven minutes or until they turn a light golden brown.
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Frosting and Decorating the Cookies
Before you can frost them, the cookies need to cool on a wire rack. Make sure they’re completely cool, or the frosting will melt.
As the cookies cool, you can make the frosting. For this, put the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and a little of the half-and-half at a time in a bowl. With a hand mixer, blend well. If the icing is too thick, add a little more half-and-half. If you made it too thin, add a little more confectioners’ sugar.
You can make more than one color of frosting. However, always use a metal or glass bowl. That’s because food coloring will ruin anything made of plastic. After frosting the cookies, add the sprinkles. The only thing left is to enjoy.
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