Episode Six- Cut-out Cookies

What do you get when you put three friends together and day one of shooting a cooking series? A batch of really delicious sugar cookies and a whole lot of laughs!

I’m just going to be straight up honest…we had no idea what we were doing. That may not be much of a shock to you if you’ve seen the episode already. I knew I wanted to do something in the kitchen with Mandy and Lauren, but at the time we didn’t have our layout figured out yet and I hadn’t memorized my recipe so it was a bit wonky. Even though I didn’t know where to stand or how much butter I needed, it still turned out to be a great episode with two of my favorite people. But that’s life sometimes and that’s baking, it doesn’t necessarily go as planned but it somehow works out in the end, and the result is nothing short of sweet.

Alright, so this is one of those recipes that’s just good. It’s not fancy, it’s not super technical, it’s just a solid dough that can be used any time of year. I made it look a lot harder than it needed to be, but have no fear, it’s simple enough to make with the family and you’ll have a blast cutting them out and decorating them!

What you’ll need is:

1 egg

1 c. sugar

1 c. margarine

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. water

3 c. flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

Tools:

Rolling pin

Cookie sheet

Cookie cutters

Spatula

Sprinkles

Frosting of your choosing

Start by creaming together your sugar and your margarine, closely followed by your egg. Once those are mixed together well, add your vanilla and water. Once combined, slowly add your flour, salt, and baking powder. Now to ensure everything gets incorporated well, you’ll want to use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer.

Leave your dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. We want to get your dough back to a state that allows you to roll it out without it getting all melted. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Once your 30 minutes are up, get your rolling pin and flour a larger surface. You’ll also want to flour your rolling pin so your dough doesn’t stick. Take your dough and place on your surface and begin to roll out until about a 1/8 inch thick. Start taking your cookie cutters and placing all over your surface. Make sure to put them as close as possible, just so you get more cookies from your dough. The less you handle it the better.

After you’ve got your designs, take your spatula and begin to place on your greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 min. Bake time will vary on the size of your cookies and how quickly your oven cooks.

Once done, let them cool. Repeat until all dough is used up. If you’re like me, it’s like one cookie for two bites of raw dough, so the dough may go faster for some. No judgments!

Now here’s where everyone is different. Some may like theirs plain; I’ve eaten them that way plenty of times. Some will want to decorate! If you have kids, decorating will be so much fun for you!

Use any frosting recipe or get it from a can (been there plenty of times too) and frost once your cookies have cooled. Then top with as many sprinkles as humanly possible to put on small, sugared turkey.

Mandy, Lauren, and I loved making these cookies for you guys and we hope you enjoy trying out the recipe at home!

See y’all next time~