Like a cross between traditional sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, these brown sugar cut-out cookies are made with butter, darkish brown sugar, and a contact of cozy spices. Good for the vacations or anytime you crave sugar cookies with just a little further taste! Make them any form you want and have enjoyable adorning together with your selection of icing.
Name them a compromise cookie. Perhaps you need to beautify Christmas cookies, however you’ll be able to’t determine between making sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, and solely have the time/vitality/elements to make only one…
…or perhaps you’re keen on the festive spiced taste of gingerbread cookies however can’t discover molasses the place you reside…
…or perhaps you’re keen on sugar cookies, however crave one thing with just a little extra taste…
Meet the answer that’s certain to please everybody: brown sugar cut-out cookies.
(Now, deciding whether or not to prime them with royal icing, simple glaze icing, or cookie adorning buttercream… you’re by yourself for that one!)
Brown Sugar Minimize-Out Cookies Recipe Snapshot
- Texture: These cookies have gentle, thick facilities with barely crisp edges, similar to traditional sugar cookies and Christmas sugar cookies.
- Taste: Buttery and candy with comforting brown sugar and comfy spice flavors. Should you choose a plain brown sugar cookie, you’ll be able to omit the spices.
- Ease: In case you have an electrical mixer and a rolling pin, you’ll be able to undoubtedly make these cookies.
- Time: This dough wants to relax for no less than 1–2 hours, however the time it takes to make the dough and bake the cookies is fairly quick. The way you determine to embellish the cookies will account for including kind of time.
Key Substances You Want
- Brown Sugar: Like these pecan sugar cookies, utilizing all brown sugar rather than white sugar provides these cookies a deeper, extra complicated taste. I like to recommend darkish brown sugar right here for essentially the most taste, however mild brown sugar is okay if that’s all you’ve.
- Spice: Cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg are the flavour energy gamers right here. If you wish to maintain these cookies as plain brown sugar cookies, you’ll be able to merely miss the spices.
- Every thing Good: You additionally want flour, baking powder, butter, an egg, salt, and vanilla extract. Cookie baking fundamentals!
Right here’s the lineup:
Learn how to Preserve Brown Sugar Moist
I usually use Domino model sugar. I’m not sponsored by or working with the model—I similar to the standard of their merchandise for baking! However even shopping for a name-brand brown sugar at the next worth level doesn’t assure the sugar will probably be (or keep) completely gentle and moist.
To maintain brown sugar gentle, retailer it in an hermetic container in a cool, dry place, like a pantry, drawer, or cabinet. I retailer my flours and sugars in these containers, and have achieved so for years.
In case your brown sugar turns into laborious and crumbly, all is just not misplaced! You’ll be able to soften it up once more by including one thing that absorbs moisture, equivalent to a slice of bread or a marshmallow, to the container and letting it sit in a single day. Simply keep in mind to take away the (now-stale) bread the subsequent day, earlier than it turns moldy.
For a extra everlasting resolution, use a terracotta sugar saver. Terracotta absorbs moisture (and doesn’t go unhealthy), and you should buy a brown sugar-saver bear or disc that’s particularly designed for this function. You’ll be able to even purchase brown sugar storage containers that embody a terracotta piece proper within the lid, like this one. They’re actually useful.
This brown sugar cookie dough comes collectively rapidly with an electrical mixer. As soon as all of your elements are mixed, it’s time to roll out and chill the dough.
My #1 Tip for Making Minimize-Out Cookies
Roll the dough out earlier than chilling. I’ll clarify why that is so profitable. Divide the dough in half, roll out every portion, after which chill:
Most sugar cookie doughs require chilling so the cookies maintain their cookie cutter form within the oven. However in case you’ve ever tried rolling out chilled sugar cookie dough, chances are you’ll keep in mind how troublesome it’s to flatten chilly, stiff dough. So, roll out the dough whereas it’s nonetheless gentle (proper after making it), after which chill the rolled-out dough. Right here’s my actual methodology, and it really works for chocolate sugar cookies, too:
- Divide the dough in half as a result of smaller sections are simpler to roll out.
- Roll out the cookie dough straight on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper so you’ll be able to simply switch it to the fridge.
- Decide the entire thing up, set it on a baking sheet, and place it within the fridge. Keep in mind, you’ve 2 slabs of dough. Should you don’t have sufficient room for two baking sheets in your fridge, merely stack the items of rolled-out dough on prime of one another, with parchment paper or silicone baking mat in between.
After the rolled-out dough chills for no less than 1–2 hours, use cookie cutters to chop out shapes. Remember to re-roll the dough scraps as wanted.
The cookies are achieved when the sides are set and the middles nonetheless look barely gentle. These cookies maintain their form properly within the oven, and bake up with a pleasant flat floor that’s excellent for adorning.
Now, for everybody’s favourite half!
Adorning Brown Sugar Minimize-Out Cookies
For the cookies you see pictured right here, my crew and I used royal icing to embellish the cookies formed like reindeer, bushes, sweet canes, and gingerbread individuals. And we used cookie adorning buttercream to embellish the snowflake cookies.
Should you’re new to adorning with royal icing, it could assist to observe my video tutorial on tips on how to beautify sugar cookies. I’ll stroll you thru 4 easy and approachable methods which are an awesome place to begin in case you’re new to cookie adorning. For the pictured cookies, I used Wilton piping tip #4 for outlining and flooding with icing. It is a great fundamental piping tip to have in your assortment.
I even have an simple cookie icing glaze you would attempt as a substitute. It takes longer to dry than royal icing, however it’s fast and simple to make, it doesn’t require piping baggage/suggestions. I take advantage of squeeze bottles for it! It’s great when you have younger bakers keen to assist beautify.
And, in fact, don’t overlook the sprinkles. Should you plan to dedicate a complete day to cookie-baking, right here’s how Learn how to Host a Cookie Adorning Day information. 😉
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is a part of my annual cookie countdown referred to as Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the most important, most scrumptious occasion of the yr! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza web page together with:
Brown Sugar Minimize-Out Cookies
Prep Time: 2 hours, half-hour
Prepare dinner Time: 12 minutes
Complete Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
Yield: 24 3-inch cookies
Class: Cookies
Methodology: Baking
Delicacies: American
Description
These brown sugar cut-out cookies are excellent for the vacations or anytime you crave sugar cookies with just a little further taste. Make them any form you want and have enjoyable adorning together with your selection of icing. The variety of cookies this recipe yields is dependent upon the dimensions of the cookie cutter you employ. Should you’d prefer to make dozens of cookies for a big crowd, double the recipe.
Directions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and salt collectively in a medium bowl. Put aside.
- In a big bowl utilizing a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar collectively on excessive velocity till utterly easy and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat on excessive velocity till mixed, about 1 minute. Scrape down the edges and backside of the bowl and beat once more as wanted to mix.
- Add the dry elements to the moist elements and blend on low velocity till mixed. Dough will probably be a bit gentle. If the dough appears too gentle and sticky for rolling, add extra flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, beating effectively after every addition.
- Divide the dough in half. Place every portion onto a bit of flippantly floured parchment paper or a flippantly floured silicone baking mat. With a flippantly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use extra flour if the dough appears too sticky. The rolled-out dough could be any form, so long as it’s evenly 1/4-inch thick.
- Calmly mud one of many rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a bit of parchment on prime. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on prime. Cowl with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for no less than 1–2 hours, or as much as 2 days.
- As soon as chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line giant baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Fastidiously take away the highest dough piece from the fridge. If it’s sticking to the underside, run your hand beneath it to assist take away it. Utilizing a cookie cutter, reduce the dough into shapes. Re-roll the dough scraps and proceed slicing till all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough. (Observe: It doesn’t seem to be quite a lot of dough, however you get quite a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
- Organize cookies on baking sheets 3 inches aside. Bake for 11–12 minutes or till flippantly browned across the edges. Permit cookies to chill on the baking sheet for five–10 minutes, then switch to a wire rack to chill utterly earlier than adorning.
- Adorn the cooled cookies with royal icing, cookie buttercream, or simple cookie icing; prime with sprinkles, if utilizing. Be happy to tint any of those icings with gel meals coloring. For adorning inspiration, my Learn how to Adorn Sugar Cookies tutorial is useful.
- Get pleasure from cookies immediately or wait till the icing units to serve them. Plain or embellished cookies keep gentle for about 5 days when coated tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cowl and refrigerate for as much as 10 days. If embellished with cookie buttercream, cowl and retailer embellished cookies at room temperature for 1 day, or within the fridge for as much as 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Directions: Plain or embellished sugar cookies freeze effectively as much as 3 months. Await the icing to set utterly earlier than layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw within the fridge or at room temperature. You can too freeze the cookie dough for as much as 3 months earlier than rolling it out. Put together the dough by step 3, divide in half, flatten each halves right into a disc as we do with pie crust, wrap every in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the discs within the fridge, then convey to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill rolled-out dough within the fridge for 45 minutes–1 hour earlier than slicing into shapes and baking. See this publish on tips on how to freeze cookie dough for a video tutorial.
- Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Electrical Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Wood Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling Pin | Vacation Cookie Cutter Set | Cooling Rack | Piping Luggage (Disposable or Reusable) | Couplers | Piping Ideas Set | Assorted Sprinkles (Like These or These)
- Can I Skip the Spices? Sure. In order for you a plain brown sugar cookie, you’ll be able to omit the spices with no different modifications to the recipe.
- Room Temperature: Room temperature butter is crucial. If the dough is just too sticky, your butter could have been too gentle. Room temperature butter is definitely cool to the contact. Room temperature egg is most well-liked so it’s rapidly and evenly blended into the cookie dough.
- Icing: Use royal icing, simple cookie icing, or cookie adorning buttercream. See publish above to learn in regards to the variations.
- Can I Double the Recipe? Sure. Double all the elements and divide the dough into 3 or 4 sections in step 4.
- Remember to take a look at my prime 5 cookie baking suggestions AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking instruments.