Cutout Sugar Cookies

These Cutout Sugar Cookies have everything rolled into one. They are crispy, soft, flaky, chewy, delicate, tasty - a little bit of everyone's favorite cookie.

Butter is creamed with brown and white sugar before adding vanilla, eggs and flour.

The secret is in the freezer. Chilled dough is rolled out and cut into shapes, then the trays are put in the freezer for a few minutes. The butter in the dough is very hard by the time the cookies go in the oven, and all the liquid in the butter evaporates, pushing the dough upwards.

Dough with softened butter tends to leach the butter oil out because it melts too rapidly in the hot oven.

Cutout Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup golden brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

With an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with both the granulated and brown sugar. Add the eggs, 1 by 1, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and kosher salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix till well blended.

Scrape the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten it out lightly, then cover the dough in the wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the chilled dough to a thickness of 1/4 - inch. Cut out cookies in your favorite shapes. Lay the cookies on an ungreased sheet pan, then put the pan in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Take the pan out of the freezer and put in the hot oven. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly browned and the tops are beginning to color.

Cool the finished cookies on wire racks before packing for storage in an airtight container.

Food For Thought - Decorate the cookies before they are baked. Cover them in colored sprinkles, place some mini M&M's in various places, or make a mixture of granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves, powdered ginger and nutmeg. Add a pinch or two of this spice sugar to each of the cookies before baking.

You Might Need:

• Kitchen Supply Aluminum Half Size Sheet Pan 18-inch by 13-inch

• Calphalon 12-by-17-Inch Rectangular Nonstick Cooling Rack

• Silpat 11-5/8-by-16-1/2-Inch Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat

• Oxo Good Grips Cookie Scoop