Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Combine cream cheese, butter, sugar, salt and flavoring in large bowl.
- Stir by hand until well blended.
- Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.
- Add to cream cheese mixture, stirring by hand until dough forms a ball.
- Knead in bowl or on floured surface, 1 to 2 minutes, adding additional flour until smooth, pliable and not sticky. (Dough
is easier to shape the more it is handled.)
- Roll dough out on a floured board to cut with cookie cutters.
- Put shapes on ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake until edges are light brown: thin shapes - 10 to 15 minutes; thick shapes - 15 to 22 minutes.
- Cool 5 minutes.
- Remove from cookie sheets.
Decorate cookies:
Frost with ‘Buttercream Frosting 2' **
Then decorate with any of the following: chocolate
pieces, sprinkles, nuts, raisins, cinnamon candies or colored sugars.
Store cooled cookies.
Refrigerate leftover dough up to 2 weeks.
Colored dough - add 3/4 to 1 tsp food coloring to the dough.
Makes 2 dozen
2 1/2 x 1/4 inch cookies, depends on size of cookie cutter shapes.
*Tip: Cream cheese and butter or margarine may be softened using an electric mixer.
**Recipe for Buttercream Icing 2
can be found in the Frostings & Icings section.
HINT - cut parchment baking paper the size or your cookie sheets. Fill as many sheets as dough need with shaped/cut
cookies. When ready to bake, just slide paper on to the cookie sheet. When done baking slide sheet onto the counter and put
another filled sheet on the pan. No messy sheets to clean.
OPTIONS:
For Gingerbread:
Eliminate flavoring.
Add 1 T molasses, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp each ground cloves and ginger.
Cutout or shaped cookies:
Press
or roll out to 1/4 thick.
Cut dough with cookie cutters OR cardboard patterns the kids make.
Bake 10 to 15 minutes.
Angels
Cut dough in to 2 1/2" rounds
Cut
a triangle from both sides of cookie.
Invert triangles to make wings.
Shapes
Roll
1 T dough into 1/2" thick rope.
Form into bells, letters, wreaths.
Hanging ornaments
Punch
hole with plastic straw before baking.
Add ribbon for hanging.
Bake
10 to 15 minutes.
Frost as desired, add sprinkles, etc. on the top while frosting is damp.
Crescents
Shape 1 heaping tsp into crescent
Bake
Cool
5 minutes
Roll in powdered sugar.
Sugarplums
Shape
1 heaping tsp dough into a ball.
Press hole in center with finger or thumb.
Fill
center with 1/2 tsp jam.
Bake 12 to 18 minutes.