• Print This

Serious Cookies: Perfect Cutout Cookies

20081125cookies.jpg

With only weeks left until the holidays, it's time to break out those rusty cookie cutters—Santa and his metal reindeer have been languishing in your kitchen drawer for far too long.

Every snowflake- or stocking-shape cookie starts with a dry, rolled dough, almost like pie crust in texture and consistency. Once shaped and baked, a cutout cookie should be thin and crisp but not so delicate that it can't withstand decorating. Every day this week, we'll be posting a fail-proof recipe for a shapeable cookie, from classic shortbread and gingerbread to raspberry-sandwiched Linzer cookies.

Even if you don't have the luxury of boundless counter space, you can still make these doughs work for you. Simply roll the dough into a log about 2 inches in diameter and chill it in the refrigerator until it's quite hard. (For a pretty variation, try rolling the log in chopped nuts prior to chilling.) Just before baking, slice into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick rounds.

The Lineup, So Far

Gingerbread Roll-Out Cookies

Comments:

Add a comment:

Comments can take up to a minute to appear - please be patient!

Previewing your comment:

 

HTML Hints

Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>

Comment Guidelines

Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.

If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.