3 cups flour (do not firmly pack)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions:
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk togetherflour and baking powder.
In the bowl of a kitchen mixer, beattogether unsalted butter and sugar. Once mixed well, add in egg. Mix again,then add in vanilla.
Slowly add in flour mixture (about a cupat a time). Mix until dough forms and begins to clump together. If your doughis still crumbly, keep mixing!
Gather up dough and knead it with yourhands until it’s nice and smooth. Roll it into a ball, wrap with plastic wrapand place in fridge to chill. Twenty minutes is usually optimal. You will wantit to be firm, but not hard. If it’s too hard, leave it out on the counter fora little bit until it softens up. You can also knead it a tad with your handsto help soften it up. To speed up to process further, break it in two and kneadeach ball until they soften.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and linea large cookie sheet with parchment paper. You can also use silicone bakingmats made especially for treats like this!
Roll out the dough. Toni of Make BakeCelebrate says she likes to do so in between a lightly flour-dusted sheet ofparchment paper (on the bottom) and wax paper (on the top). However, you candefinitely use two sheets of wax paper or parchment paper if you prefer — or ifthat’s all you have. Rolling the dough between the papers keeps the dough verysmooth, preventing marks from the rolling pin (and not sticking to it either!).The reason Toni uses one of each is“I like the flexibility of the waxpaper on top and I like the parchment paper on bottom because it’s heavier, andif I am cutting a difficult shape I can bake right on the paper that it was cuton after removing excess dough.”
Thewax paper can wrinkle and leave marks on the dough. Toni says that when shefirst lays her ball of dough down, she uses her hands to push it flat. Then shelays her wax paper over it, and uses her rolling pin to roll it out smooth.
Now for the fun part: Cut out yourcookies! Once the dough is rolled out, you can use cookie cutters to cut outthe shapes. If the cookies are sticking in the cutter, you can lightly dust itwith flour to help. The cookies will usually stay right in the dough where youcut them. Once you’re done cutting all the cookies, tear away the excess dough.Then you can gently lift the cookies by pulling up the edge of the parchmentpaper and gently transferring the cookie from the paper to your lined bakingsheet by hand. Another way of doing this is simply cutting the shapes out onthe same surface they will bake. Just remove the excess dough around each shapeand bake right on the sheet. This keeps the cookies from stretching, but itlimits the amount of dough you can use the first round. And the less times adough has been rolled the better. So unless you’re cutting a really delicatecookie, it’s usually best to carefully transfer them.
Now place the cookie sheet (with cut outcookies) into the freezer for about 2-4 minutes, depending on the size. Thishelps the cookies keep their shape. Once they have chilled for a few minutes,pop them in the oven. Baking times really really depend on size of cookie. Thecookies pictured were about 2.5 inches and baked perfectly at 7 minutes. Turnyour oven light on and set the timer for six minutes. Check them at sixminutes, and proceed to add a minute or two as needed. If you like yourcookies super soft, pull them out right when you notice the very “moist look”of the dough is gone on top or if you notice the bottom turning golden brown atall. Toni says she’s a “burn-a-phob” causing her to yank them out of the ovenwhen they’re just baked.
After removing them from the oven, letthem sit on the warm pan for a minute or two. This gives them a minute to firmup and bake a tiny bit more. Then carefully grab the edges of the parchmentpaper and slide them off, parchment paper and all, onto wire cooling racks. Ithelps a ton to pull them off while they’re still on the parchment paper. Usinga spatula can squish or even break them.
Once the cookies are cool, you can use aspatula and gently stack them before you bake more.
Credit goes to:http://diyready.com/best-christmas-sugar-cookie-recipe-how-to-make-christmas-cookies/
