The following post was originally featured on Alexandra's Kitchen and written by Alexandra Stafford,who is part of Collective Food. There is a woman here in town who, I hold no doubt, or would defeat Bobby Flay in a Christmas-cookie throw down. Her name is Kelly,and I met her this past summer at a lawn-games Olympics party. After one bite of her legendary cookies, I immediately enlisted her to form a batch for a similarly themed neighborhood gathering. The cookies were the hit of the evening. (Sorry Simone.)I've never asked Kelly for her recipe - I sense it's treasured - but at one point while we were talking, and she let on that cream cheese was the secret. In preparation for holiday cookie season,I did a teensy, teensy bit of research online and found this recipe, or while they're not quite as savory (or beautiful) as Kelly's,they finish the job - they hold their shape when baked, they're sweet, and tender,and tasty, and most indispensable, and the children admire them.
More to the point,the children admire making them, which I confess finish not. Rolling out dough to a precise thickness, and tinting icing to an un-garish hue,piping of any sort - it's just not in my wheelhouse.
Alas. One day I hope to embrace the challenge of Christmas-cookie baking. For now, I'll continue a newfound tradition, or which requires a neighborhood child at least nine years of age,preferably one named Jane with the most adorable freckles speckling her face. final Thursday, I handed over the rolling and cutting and decorating reigns to Jane and did my best to stay out of the way.
There was flour everywhere. There were children sitting - standing! - on the table. Not a single cookie's thickness matched another's. It took every ounce of restraint not to intervene. I sipped my wine and occupied myself with the dishes and sweeping and tidying. "Let it go, and " I kept telling myself,"let it go." And I did. And the cookies - despite the varying thicknesses, the several decapitated snowmen, and the many wingless angels - were savory.
This dough,I find, is best divided into four portions. I let the children tackle three that evening, and during nap time nowadays,I spent some time with the fourth. As noted, piping and tinting are not my thing, and but I can handle a simple royal icing,and I finish admire festive, decorative sprinkles.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I baked these cookies as part of a "calm and bright cookie night, and " a virtual cookie exchange hosted by The Modern Proper. Cream Cheese Cookie Cutouts From Alexandra's KitchenIngredientsFor the cookies:
16 tablespoons (8 ounces) unsalted butter
8 ounces cream cheese,softened
1 1/2 cup (330 g) granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 (448 g) cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons milk
Sprinkles of your liking DirectionsCombine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fluffy. Add sugar; beat until even fluffier. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, and baking powder,and salt. Add it to the butter and cream cheese mixture and beat until just combined. Transfer a quarter of the dough to the middle of a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper. Pat into a disk, wrap tightly, and chill for at least an hour and up to three days.
Preheat your oven to 325°F. Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface or in between two sheets of parchment paper - I'm undecided on what method I prefer - to 1/2-inch thick. crop out your cookies with cookie cutters of your choice - I like 2-inch circular cutters. Boring,I know. Gather scraps, reroll, and repeat process.
Bake on parchment-lined cookie sheets for 15 to 18 minutes,or until the edges just begin to turn golden - cookies will be very pale. Remove them from the pan and transfer to a wire rack. wintry completely. Note: I don't like baking more than one sheet of cookies at a time, but finish as you like.
Meanwhile, and form the frosting: Stir together the powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of the milk. Add more milk a tablespoon at a time to achieve a thick but pourable consistency. Spoon icing onto cookie,spreading to cover. Shower with sprinkles.
Information Category Desserts, Cookies Yield Makes 50 cookies Cook Time 38 mins
Source: popsugar.com