Cut-Out Cookies

These soft and velvety Cut-Out Cookies melt in your mouth and match with various fillings and toppings. Blueberry Filling, Lemon Curd in these Lemon Cookies and any jam will pair perfectly with these cookies. This recipe can be the base for many seasonal cookies, such as Christmas and Halloween.

About These Cut-Out Cookies

• These Cut-Out Cookies are unbelievably soft, tender, and delicious. The fact that you can make them with different fillings makes them eye-pleasing, like a box of gems. I made them with Lemon Curd and Blueberry Filling; they were gone in no time!
• This cookie dough requires some chill time! Not too long. Just about an hour! Chilling the dough makes clean edges and prevents the cookies from spreading in the oven.
• After cutting them, I recommend putting the sheet in the fridge to make their shape more defined with cleaner edges.

• One of the reasons these cookies are super fine and velvety is the Powdered Sugar and Cornstarch.
• Powdered sugar blends smoothly into the dough to create a soft and cloudy texture!
• Cornstarch also contributes to the light and airy texture of the cookies.
• We do not need any leavener or eggs in this Cut-Out Cookie recipe, however; the recipe calls for one egg yolk. Yolk makes the dough components bond together.

• The beauty of these cookies is you can cut them in any shape you desire
• The flavour can vary from plain shortbread-like cookies to adding spices such as cinnamon or cardamom.
• You can keep the cookies plain without icing or dip them into silky icing. The icing combines powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
• The other option is to leave them plain and dust them with powdered sugar.

How To Make These Cookies

• This recipe uses room-temperature butter (not too soft, though). Leave the butter at room temperature before starting to bake.
• Mix the butter, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt until smooth and silky.
• Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract.
• Add the flour in two or three passes, and mix well after each. You would have a soft and smooth dough in the end.
• Shape the dough into a disc, cling wrap, and chill for one hour.

• Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough. For easier rolling, place the dough between two pieces of wax paper.
• Once the dough is ¼ of an inch thick, use your favourite cookie cutter to cut the dough. Make a half-inch hole in the center of half of the cookies.
• Place the raw cookies on a lined baking sheet in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, preheat the oven to 325F. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the edges look set. Do not overbake them, as it makes them dry and brown.
• Let them cool down for a few minutes, then transfer them to the cooling rack to cool down fully.
• If you are dusting or icing them, dust or ice them first, then assemble them with the filling.
• Dip the cookie with a hole in the middle in the icing and place it on a rack for the icing to set.
• Place about one teaspoon of the filling on the cookie with no hole, and place the iced or dusted cookie over it. Let the cookies set for 15 minutes before serving.

See related posts here;

Lemon-Curd-Cookies,

Blueberry Filling,

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

📖 Recipe