My kids love using Play-Doh, but I hate it. The smell and finding dried up bits of it everywhere afterwards just gets to me. Whenever I use it with them, I think of the other things I'd rather be doing with them with real dough like baking cut-out cookies or making homemade pretzels or pizza. I didn't have any cookie cut-outs (other than an umbrella one that was a party favor from my cousin's bridal shower) so I bought a few Ann Clark ones online. I searched on Amazon and found a few Ann Clark sets but most of the sets only had 1 or 2 I liked in them and the rest in the set I knew I would never use. I really wanted a heart, a star, some other patriotic ones, and some vehicles or other things I knew my boys would like, so I went on the Ann Clark website and ordered 14 individual ones. They were $1.99 each and $4.50 for shipping, so in my opinion not too bad for having ones I know we will use without having a bunch laying around that we won't. I ended up purchasing the Helicopter, Airplane, Firetruck, Fire Hydrant, Police Car, Police Badge, Train, Vintage Truck, Cross, Labrador Retriever, USA Map, Flag, Star and Heart. I held off on getting holiday-themed ones for now, but the Ann Clark website has tons of options if you are looking for something specific, and they're made in the USA! Just be sure to hand wash and immediately towel dry them, or even put them in the warm oven on a cookie sheet to get any remaining water off. Do not soak them even for just a few minutes - I made this mistake and they look like they have rust on them. I did not read the FAQ's on the Ann Clark website before doing this but it clearly states how to correctly clean them - oops!
Next I needed a recipe. I have never made cut-outs on my own. My sisters and I used to make them on Christmas Eve when we were growing up, but my older sisters always made the dough. I know some of them still make cut-outs with their kids so I asked my sister Maria what recipe she uses and she sent me this one. She said it doesn't make a ton but it's easy and doesn't need chilled first and they taste good, which all sounded perfect to me.
The dough was very easy to make and to work with. I use a large Silpat mat when working with dough (update March 2022: now I used a wooden dough board which I like even more) and then used an OXO Cut and Serve Nylon Turner to gently lift the cookies off the mat and place them on the cookie sheet, which I lined with parchment paper (update March 2022: now I use Silpat half sheet baking mats).
And finally, I needed something to decorate the cookies with. I'm simple so I just used red and blue sugar sprinkles, and my toddlers excitedly told me which colors to put on which cookies. I got about 30 cookies out of this recipe, but some of the cookie cutters were pretty big (update December 2021: I made these again with Christmas cookie cutters and got 46 cookies out of one recipe, but they were not as thick as the first time I made them and the cookie cutters were not as big). After dinner, my boys each picked which shape they wanted. My foodie picked the heart (the biggest cookie!) and his twin brother followed along, picking the second heart. My cookie testers approved, so we will definitely be making these again soon!
Update March 2022: I recently purchased a Cookie Rolling pin, which has made rolling out the cookie dough so much easier. It makes 1/4" thick cookies. I get about 23 cookies out of 1 recipe using this rolling pin, but they look much better since they are all the same thickness. I recommend making a double recipe! I plan on icing these plain police car and police badge cookies later, so stayed tuned for an icing recipe soon.
Best Sugar Cookies
Recipe courtesy
In Katrina’s Kitchen website
Soft cut out sugar cookie recipe that keeps its shape and
dough does not need to be chilled before baking – perfect edges every time!
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract (optional – if not using,
replace it with an equal amount of vanilla extract)
1 egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
PREHEAT oven to 350°.
In the bowl of your mixer, CREAM butter and sugar until
smooth, at least 3 minutes.
BEAT in extracts and egg.
In a separate bowl, COMBINE baking powder and salt with
flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If the dough looks crumbly keep mixing for
30 seconds to 1 minute longer. The dough should be pulling away from the sides
of the mixer.
If the dough still looks too dry or stiff for your mixer,
turn out the dough onto a countertop surface, flour surface as needed. Wet your
hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into workable batches (2-3
chunks), roll out onto a floured surface, and cut. You want these cookies to be
on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch rather than 1/8). Add sprinkles on top of cookies before baking.
Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes for smaller cookies or 8-9
minutes for larger cookies. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to
transfer to a cooling rack.
Yield: 36 cookies.
Photos from March 2022 for my brother-in-law's retirement party:
Photo from April 2022 using royal icing and sprinkles:
Photo from December 2022:
Photos from January 2023 for my twin boys' 5th Birthday - a double recipe made 64 cookies! I brought some to school for them (on 2 separate days since they are with different groups of kids) and used the rest for their birthday party at home. Everyone loved them!:
