SARAH'S CREATIVE CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIES by Sarah Phillips © 2006 Sarah Phillips baking911.com
(Recipes included below - Royal Icing and Fondant Glaze)
Makes about 2 - 3 dozen, 2-inch cookies
Flower cookies and photo by Kelly CA © Sarah Phillips baking911.com
Flower cookies and photo by Kelly CA © Sarah Phillips baking911.com
Creative sugar cookies are buttery, crispy, flavorful and beautiful when decorated with a royal icing, fondant glaze or Marshmallow Fondant. They have little baking powder so they bake with flat, smooth surfaces, perfect for decorating on. The cookies start out on the crispy side—necessary when covering with a royal icing glaze made with egg white powder; the water and sugar in the glaze provides and attracts moisture so they soften slightly when the glaze is applied, making them the perfect eating consistency when decorated. Cookies glazed with royal icing made with meringue powder dry harder.
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INGREDIENTS
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (Spoon into measuring cup and level to top)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold from the refrigerator
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, cold from the refrigerator
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Position two oven racks: one of them 1/3 of the way from the bottom and the top rack 1/3 of the way from the top of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
You’ll need at least two (preferably four) UNGREASED non insulated cookie sheets or sheet pans. You can also cover them with parchment paper (not waxed), if desired.
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on low speed until softened. Add the granulated sugar, slowly at the side of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 45 seconds until lightened in color and creamy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on low until incorporated.
4. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture slowly at the side of the bowl and mix until the mixture forms a STIFF dough; do not over mix. The dough will be stiff, but not dry. The dough should not be sticky, either. If it is, you need to add more flour, a teaspoon or two, and pulse the mixer to combine before deciding to add more. Do not overdo it because during the chilling step, the dough will firm up.
Pat the dough into a large, 1-inch thick rectangle and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough, 20 minutes to an hour until well-chilled. This is so the dough will be cold throughout and easier to handle.
5. When chilled, roll out a small portion of the dough to about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick, on a non-floured surface. Keep the unused dough covered in the refrigerator.
SARAH SAYS: Rolling dough in flour is the main culprit in producing hard, dry cookies.
6. Cut cookies from the rolled out dough with cookie cutters. Start from one edge, cutting the cookies close together. Line up the cutter and cut, pressing down firmly to make a clean one. Lift the cutouts with a bench scraper or metal spatula to the cookie sheet and place about 1/2-inch apart; don’t crowd the baking sheet. This dough spreads about 1/8-inch on all sides.
Don’t place cookie dough on a warm cookie sheet because it will cause the cut-out dough to spread and become misshapen. Use one a fresh cookie sheet or one that has cooled thoroughly from the last batch.
If the cookies easily become misshapen, the dough is too warm. Carefully reshape any cookie, if necessary and chill the cut-out cookies on the baking sheet for about 20 minutes before baking. You can bake them right from the refrigerator.
SARAH SAYS: I roll out a portion of the dough at a time on a piece of parchment paper, needing no flour. I remove the excess dough from around the cookies. Then, I freeze the cookie shapes just where they are on the parchment paper. When herdened, after about 10 to 20 minutes, I can easily then lift the shapes from the paper without distorting them and I then place them on an ungreased cookie sheet or repostition them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for baking.
After removing the scraps, quickly gather the scraps and press them together to loosely make a flattened rectangular shape without much handling, and rechill. Repeat rolling and cutting out the shapes one more time.
SARAH SAYS: For the best texture, avoid handling and re-rolling the scraps too many times. Both actions make a tough dough and cookie from excess gluten development.
7. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until they just start to take on a light brown color around the edges; do not over bake - the browner the cookies, the harder and more inedible they become. Allow to cool on cookie sheet 1-2 minutes and remove to a wire cake rack to cool. If baked on parchment paper, cookies can be cooled right on its surface; simply slide the paper with the cookies on top to a wire cake rack to cool. Remove cookies when cooled.
Use a cold cookie sheet for the next batch.
STORAGE
Already baked cookies can be stored at room temperature or frozen. Crisp cookies should be stored in an airtight container. They will keep for about 4 days. Wrap cookies well for the freezer where they will keep for about a month.
VARIATIONS
Creative Cut Out Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Creative Cut Out Peanut Butter Sugar Cookies
Creative Cut Out Lemon / Orange / Lime Sugar Cookies
DECORATE THE CREATIVE COOKIES
SIMPLE SAFE ROYAL ICING GLAZE Recipe also posted here
Makes enough to glaze 2 - 3 dozen, 2-inch cookies
Royal Icing is one of the most versatile icings to use in decorating – it is easy to make and dries hard, can be flavored and tinted in any color. If you are going to eat the icing on a cookie, my recipe doesn’t use raw egg whites, rather I use safe-to-eat dried pasteurized egg whites, found in the grocery store, or meringue powder, more commonly found in cookware stores. Royal Icing turns soft when it comes into contact with any type of grease or oil, or high humidity. Be sure that all of your tools are free of grease before using to mix or decorate with. Do not use a plastic bowl, which scratches, and allows oil or fat to settle into its cracks, deflating the recipe. Warm water helps dissolve the egg white powder better. Adding some lemon juice helps prevent the icing from blotching after it dries because it helps prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup egg white powder or meringue powder, more if needed
1/2 cup warm water, more if needed
1 pound (about 4 cups) confectioner’s sugar, more if needed
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring
NOTE: The small bottles of food coloring found in the grocery store are fine to use. Royal Icing always colors in pastel. Paste food colors will tint Royal icing the richest, deepest hues and can be found in cake decorating stores. Always start with a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly before deciding to add more. Mix thoroughly otherwise your icing will develop streaks of color. Note that the color will darken as the glaze sets on the cookie.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place cookies to be glazed, 2-inches apart on a wire cake rack set over a pan lined with wax paper to catch any glaze drips. Set aside.
2. Prepare the glaze: In a medium mixing bowl, dissolve the egg white powder in water. With a hand held mixer on medium to medium-high, beat until soft peaks form. With the mixer on low, add the confectioners’ sugar, ½ cup at a time. Beat after each addition until well combined. Add the lemon juice and extract. Beat for an additional 3 minutes with the mixer on medium-high speed or until the mixture forms medium to stiff peaks.
Adjust icing so it flows like corn syrup. To test, draw a knife through the icing. Count to 10 seconds. If the mark disappears, the icing is perfect. Adjust with 1 teaspoon egg white powder or water to thicken or thin. Beat after each addition.
When the desired flow consistency is achieved, add food color in small amounts, one drop at a time, until desired shade is reached.
Cover glaze with a damp kitchen towel until ready to use.
3. With a spoon, pour about a tablespoon of icing in the middle of the cookie. Quickly, with a small offset metal spatula or a table knife, spread the glaze to the edges and let drip over the sides. Return to the wire cake rack to set. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Let glaze set for about 6 to 8 hours, preferably overnight, until hard. (Do not cover the cookies while doing so). Afterwards, the cookies can be stacked, packaged or stored without marring their finish.
STORAGE
Icing does not need refrigeration; store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place where it keeps for about a week. Cover icing with a damp kitchen towel (not a paper towel because it dries too quickly) and then with plastic wrap. Stir before using.
If any of the Royal Icing has crusted (gets a thin crust of hardened sugar) during storage, it cannot be used.
If too stiff after storing, rebeat with an electric mixer at low speed first. I've noticed that mixing thin icing for several minutes after storing tends to thicken it up, so add more water, if necessary, a drop at a time, to thin it.
Store glazed cookies in between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container where they will keep for about four days. Keep away from humidity otherwise the glaze will become sticky. They can be frozen, wrapped the same, for about a month.
SIMPLE FONDANT GLAZE 
Barbara:" I tried the poured fondant last night and was very pleased with the result - it was easy to make, the colors were bright and it was delicious. I stored a few in a plastic bag overnight to see how they held up and they were fine."
After the cookies have cooled, you can decorate them with Simple Fondant Glaze. It's a poured cookie icing that can be tinted and flavored, and dries to a hard surface. The cookies can then be stacked, packaged and wrapped without marring their finish.
Fondant is a thick, creamy white sugar mass used in different forms for decorating cookies and cakes with; it can be rolled and draped over a cake, poured as a glaze or sculpted with. Fondant is also the basis of many candies -- it is the center of a piece of a chocolate buttercream candy or pecan logs. It can also be used as a thick creamy, sugary filling that gushes out of a chocolate-covered cherry when bitten into. Fondant originates from the word "fondre" which means to melt named so because it melts in your mouth when eaten.
INGREDIENTS
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted plus more if needed; measure and then sift. NOTE: 1 pound box of sugar = 4 cups.
1/2 cup water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure almond, orange or lemon extract (vanilla extract can be used, but use clear vanilla extract, purchased in cookware stores, so it won’t tint the glaze)
food coloring, any color
NOTES: When in use, keep icing covered with a damp kitchen cloth at all times, otherwise the icing may form a crust.
It is important that the cookies are completely cooled before covering them with Simple Fondant Glaze. If still warm, they will get too soft and moist from the condensation and the glaze won’t set.
Use a wooden spoon to stir the icing in one direction as you slowly mix it. Do not use a wire whisk or a mixer.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place cookies to be glazed, 2-inches apart on a wire cake rack set over a pan lined with wax paper to catch any glaze drips. Set aside.
2. Prepare the glaze: In a medium size saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Warm until tepid (100 degrees F or body temperature) while stirring continually, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Add more water or sugar to correct; the mixture should pour and be the consistency between corn syrup and maple syrup. If too thick, it won’t pour over the cookies smoothly. Remove from heat.
Add the extract and stir. Add food color in small amounts, one drop at a time, until desired shade is reached. Make sure you thoroughly blend in the color otherwise the glaze will be streaked.
3. With a spoon or ladle, pour about 2 teaspoons of icing in the middle of the cookie. Immediately cover icing. Quickly, with the back of a small spoon, a small offset metal spatula or a table knife, spread the glaze to the edges and let drip over the sides. Repeat with remaining cookies. You may have to warm the icing to tepid from time to time so it pours or adjust its consistency with more confectioners’ sugar or water, one teaspoon or a few drops at a time.
Or you can put the glaze into squirt bottles and use them to 'fill' in areas previously outlined. Also, you can dip a cookie in one color, and while it is still wet on the cookie rack, apply a different colored glaze with a squirt bottle in a decorative fashion.
Let glaze set for about 1 to 2 hours until the surface is solid and not sticky when touched lightly with a fingertip. The cookies can be stacked, packaged and wrapped without marring their finish.
STORAGE
Icing does not need refrigeration; store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place where it keeps for about a week. Cover icing with a damp kitchen towel (not a paper towel because it dries too quickly) and then with plastic wrap. Secure with a rubber band. Stir before using.
If any of the fondant glaze has crusted (gets a thin crust of hardened sugar) during storage, it cannot be used.
If too stiff after storing, rebeat with an electric mixer at low speed first. I've noticed that mixing thin icing for several minutes after storing tends to thicken it up, so add more water, if necessary, a drop at a time, to thin it.
Store glazed cookies in between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container where they will keep for about four days. Keep away from humidity otherwise the glaze will become sticky. They can be frozen, wrapped the same, for about a month.
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