Ingredients
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour
- Icing, sprinkles and dusting sugar, for decorating
2 1/2 dozen 3-inch cutout cookies
Preparation
- Combine sugar and butter in a mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Using the paddle attachment of the mixer, or a wooden spoon if you are doing this by hand, blend butter and sugar until no granules of sugar show. Lightly stir in salt, egg and vanilla.
- Stir in flour in thirds. Add just enough to make a dough that forms a mass and that is very soft but not sticky. It should be pale yellow in color.
- Gather dough in a ball, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, and preferably 3 or 4 hours or overnight.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll chilled dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Dust rolling pin and dough with cake flour as needed. Using cookie cutters, make shapes and transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. The bottoms should be just beginning to turn golden. If they’re brown, you’ve cooked the batch too long.
- Transfer cookies to cooling rack. Let cool completely, then decorate with icing, sprinkles and dusting sugars.
Dining and Cooking