The Best Butter Cookie Recipe For Cookie Cutters (2024)

FAQs

What type of cookie dough is best for cookie cutters? ›

(In general, you're looking for a smooth dough that can be rolled thin, cuts cleanly and contains little or no baking powder.) If the dough gets too warm, refrigerate or freeze it until it becomes firm again. Your leaf shapes should do just fine.

Sandwich your dough between two sheets of parchment, roll, then freeze; it makes cut-out cookies a breeze! If you plan to store it for only a few hours or days, there's no need to overwrap the baking sheet; for longer storage, wrap the entire baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap before freezing.

As the name suggests a butter cookie has a high proportion of butter. However, unlike a shortbread the amount of flour and sugar used is increased meaning they hold their shape more effectively.

Adjust baking time to achieve the cookie texture desired. A little less time produces chewier cookies, a little more time makes them crispy. If you prefer softer cookies, remove them from the oven while they are still slightly under baked. Always check for doneness at the minimum baking time.

Just remember to chill your dough for at least 30 minutes and flour your cookie cutter between each cookie. And of course, make them your own and have fun!

After preparing your cookie dough, refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. This will make the dough easier to cut with cookie cutters (especially intricate ones) and may help prevent your cookies from spreading in the oven. Once the dough is chilled, roll it out on a cool, lightly floured surface.

If your butter is under mixed, it won't have the air pockets to hold it's shape. If it's over-mixed, the air pockets decrease in size and are unable to hold their shape in the oven—causing your cookies to spread. It's best to cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes.

“The best cookie cutters have a small rolled lip of metal or plastic around the top to protect my hands and give me an edge to grab onto to pull the cutter back up,” Bushman says. “I also look for a nice seam where the metal of the cookie cutter joins together so I don't have a weird shape on one edge of my cookie.”

The most common mistakes when making shortbread are over-working the dough, and incorporating too much flour. The less you work the dough, the more crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth your shortbread cookies will be.

Adding too little butter can cause the cookies to be tough and crumbly. You should use unsalted butter to control the salt content, but if you only have salted on hand, reduce the amount of added salt accordingly. Sugar sweetens the cookies and makes them an enticing golden brown.

Why are butter cookies so good? ›

Butter cookies are classic cookies known for their rich, buttery flavor, and crisp texture. The flavor is lightly sweetened with warm notes of butter and vanilla. Similar to shortbread cookies, they are very popular around the holidays and are often given as Christmas cookie gifts.

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

Butter keeps cookies fluffy in two ways. First, creaming cold butter with sugar creates tiny, uniform air pockets that will remain in the dough it bakes up. Second, cold butter naturally takes a longer time to melt in the oven.

Simple metal cookie cutters can transform store-bought slice-and-bake dough into the most festive holiday dessert. For these Christmas cut-outs, all you need is a 16.5-ounce roll of Pillsbury sugar-cookie dough, some flour, and an oven (elbow grease not included).

The stainless steel cutters are oven-safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, which should cover even the crispiest cookies. Lopez recommends these because “they're metal and the different sizes nest and stack easily, taking up less space in your kitchen cupboard.”

Pay particular attention to the areas on the cutters where there is a lot of detail, making sure flour gets into all the little corners since that is where sticking is most likely to be a problem.