My favorite Cut Out Cookie Recipe...aka Jock Cookies!

Christmas Stars

A couple of years ago, our good friends visited us for Thanksgiving. Jayne is a great cook and also Northern Irish, so she came armed with many, goody stuffed Tupperware. The best of the best were these AMAZING sugar cookies that she had cut out in "Jock" (their dog) shapes and covered with melted butterscotch chips. Oh boy! They were so good. We (I particularly) could not stop eating them and I think even she was surprised how good the butterscotch tasted on a sugar cookie. If I remember correctly she was trying to avoid a supermarket trip so she used the butterscotch in a pinch. Anyway, Jayne was kind enough to fork over the recipe and now we need little excuse to whip up a batch in this house. So, it's time to share.

A wee bit of fun for the kids; Candy Cane Copycats

These cookies are in no way healthy; but they are not everyday cookies or lunch box snacks. They're for special occasions; it's up to you how many occasions you nominate special, after you taste them.

Cut Out Cookies

Sparkly Snowflakes

Ingredients


1 cup/ 1/2 lb butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. 
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium, until whitened.
4. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat on medium until well incorporated.
5. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture slowly. Mix until just incorporated.
6. Take the dough out of the bowl and shape it into a disc approx 1" thick.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 30 mins
8. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to approx 1/4" thick. 
9. Cut out your shapes til your hearts content and re-roll as necessary.
10. Be careful not to overwork the dough and if the scraps get too warm, wrap again and place back in the refrigerator for another 10 mins or so.
11. Bake for approx 5 minutes then turn the tray around and bake another 5 minutes. 
12. They will be done when they begin to turn golden around the edges. 
13. Cool for 2-3 minutes on the tray before transferring them to a cooling rack
14. leave to cool completely before decorating

This Christmas, I used the simplest of frosting/ icing, borrowed from Nigella. The ratios are as follows:

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/2  tablespoons hot water

This will give you a pretty runny icing which you can flood the cookie with. It will dry to hard in a few hours. 

The cookies will keep (unfrosted) for about a week in an airtight container and apparently they freeze too. I am testing that out; I've frozen a sample and will add a comment when I defrost them.

My Halloween Cut Outs this year