Almond Shortbread Cutouts Recipes

ALMOND SHORTBREAD I

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat butter with 1/2 cup sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy. With a wooden spoon, stir in flour until smooth and well combined. Divide dough into 2 parts. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• On lightly sugared surface, roll out dough, one part at a time, about 1/2-inch thick. Cut out cookies with a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie with the end of a wooden spoon.
• Bake in preheated oven until cookies are light golden brown around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes. While still warm, roll in sugar. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an air-tight container.

ALMOND COOKIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add egg and extracts; mix well. Combine the flour, cornstarch, almonds, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture just until blended. Shape into two balls. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut out with lightly floured 2-1/2-in. cutters. Place on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with colored sugar and/or sprinkles if desired., Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until set and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.

BRIDGET'S CUT OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.
• Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set this mixture aside.
• In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until combined and fluffy. Beat in the egg and extracts, mixing until combined.
• Add the flour mixture in three parts, mixing on low speed. Scrape down the sides and bottoms of the bowl as needed. After the last addition, the dough will look very thick and crumbly.
• Prepare a rolling surface and roll out a portion of the dough. Cut as many shapes from the dough as possible and place them on a prepared cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
• Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes. Freezing the cookies will help keep them from spreading. Meanwhile, knead the scraps and remaining dough together and continue the rolling, cutting, and freezing process on a second cookie sheet.
• After freezing, immediately bake the cookies on the center rack of your oven for 9 to 12 minutes (for 3.5 to 4-inch cookies), or until they appear done in the center. The baked cookies won't change much in color.
• Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes. With a thin cookie spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

ALMOND SHORTBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine the flour, almonds, sugar and salt; cover and process until almonds are finely ground. Cut butter into cubes; add to processor. Pulse on and off until mixture resembles coarse crumbs., Combine the yolk, water and almond extract. While processing, gradually add yolk mixture; process until dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut into desired shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. , Bake at 325° for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

PERFECT VANILLA ALMOND CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350, with rack on lower middle position. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. It's important to measure flour accurately; use scoop/level method to ensure proper measurement. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, at least 2 minutes; use rubber spatula to scrape down sides as needed. Be sure to mix the full amount of time or longer. Add the egg and extracts and mix to fully incorporate.
• Switch to low speed. Gradually add the flour mixture gently mixing just until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Do not over-mix.
• Use hands to work cookie dough into a smooth ball for rolling; if flour was measured accurately, texture will be similar to soft play-dough. It should not be sticky nor crumbly, but soft and pliable.
• Roll dough out on a floured surface to about 1/4" thick and cut into shapes. Place cookie shapes on parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze entire cookie sheet for 10 minutes, which helps retain shape when baking. (If you live in a cold region, you may even be able to place it outside. Otherwise, you can place in freezer in smaller batches if needed.)
• Transfer sheet of semi-frozen cookies straight into the preheated oven (only bake 1 sheet at a time.) Bake larger/thicker shapes (3.5 to 4 inch diameter) for 9-11 minutes and smaller shapes 7-8 minutes. *It's important to watch your first batch closely so you know how much time to bake your particular sized/shaped cookies. If they're baked a bit long, they'll be more likely to lose their shape. Cookies should be removed from oven when they seem slightly under-baked. They will set upon cooling.
• Let cool a few minutes on baking sheet and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely before decorating.