Fabulously Vanilla-y Cut-out Cookies

When it comes to cookies or biscuits I’m very much a fan of the scoop and bake method; however, there are sometimes when you just have to make the more labour intensive cut-out type.

P and I became the proud parents and the most adorable fur baby that we named Dougal last November.  Dougal is a Dandie Dinmont, which is a Scottish breed and one that is on the Kennel Club's vulnerable breeds list. We wanted a smallish dog that could cope with life in a London flat and we came upon the breed in our research. When we saw the Dandies at the Discover Dogs Show at Earls Court we were smitten and decided right then it was the breed for us. When our lovely landlady said we could get ourselves a puppy we got in contact with the Dandie Dinmont Club and headed all the way to Sheffield to pick up our sweet little boy.

Dougal aged 4.5 months

Being a lover of all things baking I had a little search online and came across a Dandie Dinmont cookie cutter and I knew I had to have one. I could only find one that was stateside so I had it sent to my mom back in Texas and when she got enough things that I had sent gathered together she sent it to me in a big package. When the package arrived I couldn’t wait to try it on this recipe. You don’t have to have this marvellous cutter to make the cookies but it doesn’t hurt.

This is one of those recipes where it tastes just as good raw as it does fully cooked. I've used Martha Stewart's royal icing recipe to decorate the cookies.

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the cookies

225g softened butter

200g caster sugar

1 egg

56g cream cheese

1/2tsp vanilla extract

420g plain flour

1/2tsp salt

Icing sugar for dusting

For the royal icing

500g icing sugar

2 large egg whites

125ml water

Yields approximately 2-4 dozen cookies depending upon the size of the cutter and the depth of your dough.

Instructions

For the cookies

1. Cream together the sugar and butter with the paddle attachment in a mixer.
2. Add in the cream cheese until combined and then add the egg and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Add in the vanilla and any other flavours you desire.
4. Add one third of the flour and slowly mix together. Once this is just combined, add in the second third. Continue until you mix in the final third. The dough will be very thick.
5. Turn the dough out onto some cling film and wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour – overnight preferably.
6. Once your dough is well chilled cut a quarter of it off and wrap up the remaining dough and refrigerate.
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
8. Dust the work surface with icing sugar making sure to dust your rolling pin.
9. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape about ¼- ½ centimeter thickness depending on how thick you prefer your cookies.
10. Cut out your cookies and place onto a lined baking sheet.
11. Bake the cookies for 8-15 minutes, depending on the thickness, until just starting to colour.
12. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool completely.
13. Once completely cool you can decorate.

For the icing

1. In a large mixing bowl add the icing sugar and the egg whites and slowly mix with the whisk attachment.
2. Once this starts to pull together add in a few tablespoons of the water.
3. For the outline piping keep the icing thicker and for the flooding icing loosen with a bit more water.
4. Colour with gel food colouring to ensure you keep the desired consistency.
5. Add in a small amount of flavouring if you so desire.

You’ll notice that I’ve specified plain flour and I haven’t included any bicarbonate soda or powder in the recipe. This is because I wanted to keep the shape as true to form as possible and leaving them out helps tremendously.