Butter Cut-Out Cookies
Introduction
It’s not hard to make biscuits that hold their shape well while cooking; it’s not hard to make biscuits that taste good and have a melting, buttery texture: what’s hard is to find a biscuit that does all of these things together. This one does it all, and with ease.
Like all doughs, it freezes well, so it makes sense — in a smug, domestic kind of a way — to wrap half of this in clingfilm and stash it in the deep freeze until next needed. It’s hard to specify exactly how much icing you’ll need, but you might end up using more than specified below if you’re using a lot of different colours.
As my children grew up, I always cut out the newly acquired age of each child on his or her birthday. My children couldn’t have contemplated a birthday party without them, and nor could I. Since then, I have found them deliciously invaluable to say and celebrate anything I've needed them to. Truly, an indispensable recipe.
For US measures and ingredient names, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
175 grams soft unsalted butter
200 grams caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
400 grams plain flour - preferably Italian 00 (plus more if needed)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
300 grams icing sugar (sieved)
food colouring
1¼ sticks soft unsalted butter
1 cup superfine sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2⅔ cups all-purpose flour - preferably Italian 00 (plus more if needed)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups confectioners' sugar (sieved)
food colouring
Method
You will need biscuit cutters and two baking sheets, greased or lined.
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Halve the dough, form into fat discs, wrap each half in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
When you are ready to make the biscuits, preheat the oven to 180ºC/160°C Fan/gas mark 4/350ºF.
Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place a disc of dough on it (not taking out the other half until you’ve finished with the first) and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about ½ cm / ¼ inch. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the biscuits a little apart on the baking sheets.
Bake for 8–12 minutes, by which time they will be lightly golden around the edges. Cool on a rack and continue with the rest of the dough. When they’re all fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of just-not-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved icing sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Colour as desired: let the artistic spirit within you speak, remembering with gratitude that children have very bad taste.
Bake for 8–12 minutes, by which time they will be lightly golden around the edges. Cool on a rack and continue with the rest of the dough. When they’re all fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of just-not-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved confectioners' sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Colour as desired: let the artistic spirit within you speak, remembering with gratitude that children have very bad taste.
Additional Information
MAKE AHEAD / STORE: Make ahead: the baked but un-iced cookies can be frozen in airtight containers for up to 3 months. Stack the cookies in the containers with baking parchment in between any layers. The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap the balls of dough in food wrap and put in a resealable bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge then stand out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before rolling, as if it is too cold the dough will crack when you try to roll it. You can also cut out the cookies then put them on baking sheets lined with baking parchment. Freeze until solid then transfer to airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake direct from frozen - the cooking time should be the same. Store: the baked but un-iced cookies will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container. The cookies can be iced up to 1 day ahead but once iced, they will soften over time.
