A plain, sturdy cut-out dough: the one you roll thick enough to ice.
Easy. Hands on for about 35 minutes. About 110 minutes start to finish. Makes about 24 cookies, 3 inches (8 cm) wide.
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, soft
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Steps
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
- Add the flour mix a little at a time. Stir until the dough comes together.
- Press the dough into two flat discs and wrap them. Chill for 1 hour.
- Heat the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (350°F (175°C))
- Roll one disc out on a floured counter until it is ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Cut shapes and set them 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
- Bake until the edges just start to turn gold. Pull them out before they brown all over. (350°F (175°C))
- Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Ice them when they are completely cool.
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment and you need no extra flour.