Christmas Cookies

I made the sugar cookie recipe over the weekend, but I didn't get around to rolling them out and cutting them into cute little christmasy things until yesterday. I purchased snowflake, snowman and pine tree cookie cutters from Spoons and Spice and commenced to cookie-ing. Dana sprinkled on the sugars and we had a grand time.

The verdict? They were phenomenal. They tasted wonderful and rich because of just enough cream cheese added to the dough, and they didn't spread out and make the shapes deformed in any way (which is a problem when you're making cut-out cookies). They also turn a brilliant white when they bake, which makes them look beautiful. The only problem I found was that if you use cutters with spindly shapes (like my lovely snowflake cutter that had slender tips) the cookies are tender, which lead to the tips breaking off in an unceremonius fashion. So this may be one to not use with the reindeer cutter that has tiny legs and antlers. Oh well, those tips were still tasty!

Buttery Cut-Out Christmas Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour

-Combine everything but the flour in a mixing bowl and beat until well combined and creamy (about 3-4 minutes).
-Gradually add the flour and beat until well mixed, about 2-3 minutes more.
-Divide the dough in half and shape into flat discs. Wrap in each in plastic wrap.
-Refrigerate until firm, at least two hours.
-Take out of the fridge when ready and let rest for about 15 minutes (otherwise it's fairly impossible to roll out).
-Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
-Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick.
-Cut out the shapes your prefer and place at least 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
-Sprinkle with colored sugars before baking if desired.
-Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. I find the magic number for my oven is about 8 minutes.
-Let sit on sheets for about 2 minutes (this prevents breakage) and transfer to racks to cool.
-I you prefer to bake your cookies plain you can decorate with icing and candies after they are cooled. Decorate away!

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Some helpful Tips!

If you're having trouble transferring your cut dough to the cookie sheets, try these techniques.
-Roll your dough out on waxed paper to keep it from sticking.
-cut out all your shapes on foil sheets, transfer the foil sheet to the baking pan, remove the excess dough around your shapes and bake.