Christmas Butter Cookies
This classic butter cookie recipe was created in my grandmother's kitchen many years ago. The homemade dough is rolled out on the counter and uses a good old fashioned rolling pin and cookie cutters to create a variety of fun and festive shapes.Please note that the number of cookies made from this recipe is determined by the sizes of cookie cutters used.
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Ingredients
- 1 & ½ sticks butter, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs slightly beaten use at room temperature
- 2 & ½ cups flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Decorating options can include cookie icing, sparkle gel, holiday sprinkles and holiday M&M's
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a microwaveable dish; then pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well. Then add the slightly beaten eggs.
- Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a separate bowl; then fold half of this mixture into the contents of the large mixing bowl. Mix well; then add the other half of the flour mixture and thoroughly mix. (Mixture will be thick.)
- Cover the bowl and place it in the freezer for 1 hour so it firms up. Please do not skip this step or the dough will be very difficult to work with!
- After 1 hour, remove the bowl from the freezer. Allow it to sit on the counter for about 5-10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare your workspace for rolling out the dough. Place a large piece of parchment paper on your table or counter. You may find it helpful to sprinkle a light dusting of flour on the parchment paper for easier rolling.
- Scoop out roughly one third of the dough from the bowl and place it in the center of the parchment paper. Flatten it slightly with your hands; then use the rolling pin to smooth it out and flatten it to about ¼ inch thickness. Work from the middle of the dough and roll out towards the edges, lifting the rolling pin up and away from the dough before starting again in the center. Smooth out any air bubbles.
- Once the dough is about ¼ inch thick all around, use cookie cutters to create shapes. Transfer the cookies either by hand or with a spatula to a nonstick baking pan. The cookies need to be spaced about ½ inch apart on the pan.
- Use leftover scraps from the workspace and incorporate them into the next batch of dough that is rolled. Repeat the above steps until all of the dough is made into cookies.
- Once a pan is full with cookies, bake it in the oven on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes. The cookies are done when they are slightly brown around the edges and puffed up a little in the center. I recommend only baking one sheet at a time--do not use multiple racks. When one sheet is done, put the next one in.
- Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes; then use a spatula to carefully transfer them to a wire rack. Failing to remove them from the pan within this timeframe may cause baked cookies to break and/or stick to the pan.
- If choosing to decorate, refer to "Decorating tips" in above post for options and advice.
Notes
Store cookies in an airtight container and keep on your counter. Enjoy within one week.
I often double this recipe. The yield of cookies varies because of the different sized cookie cutters, but typically I get 5-6 dozen from the doubled recipe.
Freezing the dough and following the above detailed advice in the recipe card or separate blog post: Roll and Cut Butter Cookies: Tips for Success is key with this recipe!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!