German Cut Out Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate with your favorite frostings or sprinkles if you like.

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, white sugar, vanilla sugar, and egg in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Mix flour and baking powder together. Beat into the butter mixture on low speed until dough becomes crumbly. Work dough crumbles with your hands into a smooth dough and place into a sealable container. Refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Pick up all the left over dough, press together into a ball, and repeat the rolling and cutting out process until all the dough is used up.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before carefully removing to a wire rack with a knife or thin spatula to cool completely.
• Mix confectioners' sugar and lemon juice until glaze has a smooth and spreadable consistency. Add more lemon juice if you like a thinner glaze. Add food coloring if you like. Brush frosting on cooled cookies and add chocolate sprinkles or sugar sprinkles if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Form into a fat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place disk of dough on it, and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the cookies a little apart on 2 parchment or silpat lined baking sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 12 minutes; obviously it depends on the shape you're using and whether they are on the upper or lower shelf, though you can swap them around after about 5 minutes. When they're ready expect them to be tinged a pronounced gold around the edges; they'll be softish still in the middle, but set while they cool.
• Remove the cookies with a flat, preferably flexible, spatula to a wire rack. When they are fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of not-quite-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved confectioners sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Color,as desired. I think pastes are much better than liquid, not just because the range of colors is better but because they don't dilute the icing as they tint. Ice cooled cookies, as desired.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
• Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on low speed to start, then on medium speed until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Add the egg and then the vanilla extract, beating well between additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; then, on low speed, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; beat until everything is well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the coconut, pecans and chocolate, mixing until well combined.
• Drop the dough by heaping teaspoons onto the baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. (Alternatively, the dough can be rolled into a log, then cut into thin slices.) Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, until the undersides of the cookies begin to firm up. The tops may still look shiny. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving or storing.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl stir together flour, ginger, apple pie spice, cloves, cardamom, and red pepper; set aside.
• In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add molasses and brown sugar. Beat until combined. Beat in flour mixture just until combined.
• Divide dough in half; cover and chill for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
• Preheat oven to 375°F
• On a lightly floured surface roll half of the dough at a time to a 1/16 inch thickness. Using a 2-inch round scalloped cutter, cut out dough. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until edges are browned. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. Makes about 66.
• TO STORE: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container, cover. Store at room temperature.
• Better Homes Christmas Cookies.