Two recipes two days in a row? (Sugar & Spice Cookie Recipe here). I’m in Christmas-baking mode and friends have been asking me to post my favorites.
As strange as it may sound, the tragic mass shooting at a school in Newton, Conn. has made my little family head to the kitchen. Cooking together is one of my favorite bonding activities with my kids and they absolutely love rolling out the dough, cutting it into different shapes and decorating with sprinkles.
I’m not a big fan of wrestling with frosting. Most sugar cookies are bland without it but not these babies. The cream cheese makes it absolutely delicious and I am always asked to divulge my secret.
To-die-for Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 cups flour (a bit more for high-altitude)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours or overnight. (Note: I didn’t have time to do this so just added more flour so it wasn’t too sticky).
On a lightly-floured surface, roll one-third of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7-10 minutes, until edges begin to brown. Cool on wire racks before frosting (or I like to just put sprinkles on prior to baking).
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 