Sharp-Edged, Roll & Cut Sugar Cookies

I’ve been on the search for years for a sugar cookie that came out of the oven looking exactly as you put it in but was still tender and delicious. The answer came from an ingredient you don’t typically see in sugar cookie recipes: cream cheese.

A small addition of cream cheese adds fat and moisture to the recipe without adding so much that the cookies spread or become chewy after baking. These still aren’t as soft and cakey as the store-bought version with ingredients you can’t pronounce, but they come pretty close! Plus these will give you a perfectly level, blank canvas for all of your holiday cookie decorating dreams. It’s the best happy medium I’ve found between taste and function in a sugar cookie. Decorate with buttercream for a decadent finish, or top with Royal Icing (recipe below for a creative design.

This recipe doesn’t have baking powder or baking soda by design. There isn’t another acid in the recipe, so if I was going to use one it would be baking powder. But a chemical leavener would cause the cookies to puff and spread in the oven more than I’d like, and add a cakey texture. Also be sure to pay attention to the temperature of your ingredients. I prefer to roll and cut the dough fresh out of the refrigerator, when it is nice and chilled. Use a rolling pin to pound it and make it pliable ahead of rolling. If your dough warms up too much during the rolling/cutting process, freeze the cookies before baking to ensure they bake up with perfect edges.

If cookie decorating isn’t your thing, sprinkle the dough with raw sugar, sprinkles, candy canes or just regular white/red/green sugar before baking to add a design without frosting. I roll and re-roll the dough twice before scrapping it - otherwise the cookies will become tough and overworked. Bake your scraps for cookie crumbs and chef snacks!

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Sharp-edged Roll & Cut Sugar Cookies

Yield: 18-24 Cookies

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 12 Mininactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 22 M

Adding a little cream cheese to the classic sugar cookie keeps the cookie softter, longer. Keeping the flour ratio high will prevent the shapes from spreading in the oven. If dough is too sticky to cleanly cut and roll out, sprinkle generously with flour after chilling and knead a few times to incorporate.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon almond or other extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cup all purpose flour

Instructions

1. With the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream butter, sugar and cream cheese until smooth and cohesive.
2. Add in room temperature egg and extract and mix on low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl if you need to.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix on low until all dry pieces have again been fully incorporated.
4. Wrap mixture in parchment, plastic or beeswax and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to three days.
5. Roll cold dough out onto a floured surface to ¼-½” thickness and cut into desired shapes. Freeze cookies for at least 20 min before baking.
6. Bake at 350*F for 10-15 minutes, just until the edges are starting to slightly brown.

Created using The Recipes Generator

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Royal Icing

Yield: 1 pint

Prep time: 10 MinTotal time: 10 Min

Not to be confused with silky buttercream frosting, Royal icing is the quick-drying “crunchy” cookie icing that is easily colored, flavored and piped into designs or 3D shapes. Otherwise known as “what sticks your gingerbread house together”. It’s very simple to make on your own! Don’t skip the mixing time- it will stabilize your meringue and incorporate air into the icing to make it easier to work with. The looser the viscosity, the longer it will take to dry and the harder it will be to pipe with. Using fresh egg whites vs. meringue powder makes the icing shinier, but a little more difficult to work with/store. Meringue powder is a good substitute if you have some on hand. If adding extract instead of lemon juice as a flavoring, use significantly less- like 1/4tsp to 1/2tsp depending on strength of flavor.

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 2c powdered sugar (might need more or less depending on viscosity)
• 1 tsp lemon juice or other extract (optional)

Instructions

1. Whip egg whites until foamy, soft peaks with the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, add in powdered sugar all at once.
2. Mix on a low speed at first until sugar has been incorporated, scraping down the sides to make sure all the sugar gets in there. Then whip on a med/high speed for 10 minutes.
3. Add more powdered sugar, or a little water to adjust the viscosity of the icing.
4. Icing can be used right away, but if storing, transfer to an airtight container and keep refrigerated. A dampened paper towel or cloth on top will keep icing from drying out.

Created using The Recipes Generator

My friend Kellie of Grown Mindfully started a community learning series over Zoom this Fall and I was so excited when she asked me if I would guest host a class. These recipes were created and tested for that Holiday Cookie class and demonstration. Kellie is such a wealth of knowledge on mindful living, practical consumption and using what you have to its full extent. I’ve love learning from her and have incorporated so many of her tips into our daily life. Cooking/baking for yourself is one of the best ways to work towards a more sustainable way of life. Follow her on instagram @grownmindfully for tips and tricks!