Friday, March 26, 2010

Soft Cut Out Cookies



I love a nice tender cut out cookie.  What so often happens with tender cookies is that the dough is really difficult to work with. I think I have found a pretty simple way to deal with it.  I use cereal or crackers bags.  No, seriously they are a wonderful tool.  They are really great for lining a ring mold when building a dessert or savory with layered components.  I know you are probably thinking that plastic wrap works just as well.  It works sure but what I like about the cereal bags is that they have some body and can stand up to rolling without losing their shape or getting bunched up.  I also find they sometimes stick to the food that I am rolling out.  The cereal bags rarely stick.  Really I think you will like them when you start using them.  Once you start you will see they are great for a lot of things.  Seperating burgers for freezing, pushing down sticky desserts that have to be level before baking...  Give it a try.

This recipe here is all over the internet and really is a super tasty and tender cookie.



Cream Cheese Cookie Cut-outs

1 cup butter
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
3 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add sugar; beat until fluffy, about five minutes. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract; beat well. In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to cream cheese mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours.

Note:  I used an empty can of mandarin oranges and kind of smushed it to get an egg shape for cutting the cookies.

I used Wilton Royal Icing recipe here for the frosting.  I am taking Part II of Wilton Cake decorating and had some left over. 
 
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).
NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency.
* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

9 comments:

vanillasugarblog said...

you know i used to make these but then got sad (but in a good way) when i would spend all that time making and decorating them only to have them devoured in seconds. i was like, oh no. LOL you know?

Mary Bergfeld said...

These look wonderful for the coming holiday. Great recipe.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Very interesting. Do you reuse them then? We don't really eat cereal.

Happy Happy Friday Lori!
~ingrid

grace said...

i use cereal bags for all kinds of stuff too--they're super-handy! your cookies look great and perfect for easter!

Anonymous said...

My kids liked these cookies when they are still young. I kinda miss making some for them.
dining table

Taste of Beirut said...

I love the colors of these cookies; perfect for Easter!
You are so lucky to have access to all these passion fruits! Actually I thought they were always imported, due to their price!

Katy ~ said...

Oh those look so pretty. I wouldn't be able to stay away from them. I think I like them better at your house, LOL because they'd be all gone at mine.

hungryandfrozen said...

Those cookies sound so good (yum, cream cheese!) Good idea about the cereal bag, too.

Lynn said...

Love the cookies, Lori. Very cute! Your idea about using the cereal bags is a great one, too. I usually toss the recipe if the dough is hard to work with, but I ought to give your cereal bag idea a try next time. Thanks.