Has this ever happened to you? You walk into a holiday party with a box of cookies from a Thomasville grocery store, and the host raises an eyebrow before taking them from you. You know that raised eyebrow means, “So, you didn’t even put in the effort to bake some cookies.” Instead of walking into the land of raised eyebrows this year, make some holiday cutout cookies. These cookies will earn you some serious points when you attend holiday parties this season, and they’re so good you’ll want to make a batch for yourself as well.
Gather Your Ingredients
Begin by gathering your ingredients for the cookies and the frosting. For the cookies, you’ll need:
- 1 cup of butter, softened
- 1 cup of shortening
- 3 cups of sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 6 tablespoons of evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons of almond extract
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
For the frosting, you’ll need:
- 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 4–6 tablespoons of half-and-half cream
- Assorted sprinkles
Making the Cookies
You have the ingredients, and now you’re ready to bake your cookies. Take out a large bowl and add butter, sugar, and shortening. Cream the ingredients until they are fluffy. Then beat in the vanilla and almond extracts, milk, and eggs.
Take out another bowl and add the flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk the ingredients together and then slowly beat in the other mixture. After everything is combined, divide the dough into four parts and shape each part into a disk. Wrap each portion in plastic and put the dough in the refrigerator overnight.
The following day, turn your oven on to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Put some flour on a surface and roll the dough until it’s 1/8 inch thick. Using three-inch holiday cookie cutters, cut the dough. Then put the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet, keeping them approximately one-inch apart.
You’ll need to bake the cookies for 5–7 minutes. Pull them out of the oven once the edges are lightly brown. Take the cookies off the baking sheet and put them on wire racks.
While the cookies cool, you can create the frosting. Take out a large bowl and add the vanilla, half-and-half, and confectioners’ sugar. Start with four tablespoons of half-and-half and add more if the frosting isn’t the right consistency. Beat the ingredients together. Then make sure the cookies are cool. If they are, add the frosting and sprinkles to the cookies.
Additional Tip
Do you want fun-colored holiday cookies? Add food coloring to the frosting. You can choose any color. You can even make smaller batches of frosting and choose a different color for each batch.
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Roll up Your Sleeves, It’s Time to Bake
Is your mouth watering yet? These cookies are so tasty that you don’t want to wait. Get started and then show your baking skills off to your friends and family.
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