ISO Cookie dough for cut outs

[paperwhite]

Hi everyone, I am a newbie to the site and also to baking.
I'm entranced by the thought of stained glass cookies, but I am havng trouble finding a good recipe for dough that's easy to roll out and cut, and holds its shape. Some of the recipes have basically been short bread cookies, which are just impossible to roll out and cut shpes with..it goes from being "completely brittle" when chilled.. to "waay relaxed" when warm enough to roll.

[PA Baker]

Welcome, paperwhite! If you Google "stained glass cookies" you can find all sorts of information, from instructions on how to make them, to recipes.

Let us know how you make out!

[ChefJune]

Shortbread cookies won't work for cutout cookies of any kind, They are too crumbly. You need a good sugar cookie recipe. I can post one for you over the weekend. We used to make hundreds -- maybe thousands -- every Christmas, and frost them and paint them to look like beautiful Santas and trees and bells and etc. It was a lot of work, but very fun. Mom used to get the whole Girl Scout troop over to help, then everyone could pick a few favorites to take home, and she would have boatloads for gifts and parties.

[Katie E]

Hi, paperwhite, and welcome to DC.

When my children were small, they are in their 30s now, baking cookies was always a fun activity, especially at Christmastime. Here's a recipe I use and have had for well over 30 years. It works perfectly for me every time. I use powdered sugar to "flour" my rolling surface because it keeps the cookies from being tough. The cookies are even easier to remove from the cookie sheet these days now that baking aids such as Silpat and Teflon baking liners are available.

Here's the recipe:

GLASS WINDOW COOKIES

(Makes about 6 dozen)

¾ cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract or ½ tsp.lemon extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 pkg. hard roll-type candy, like LifeSavers in clear flavors (cherry, lime, lemon, orange, etc.)

Cream together shortening, butter or margarine and sugar. Add eggs and flavoring. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Blend into creamed mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least 1 hour.

Roll dough 1/8-inch thick on a cloth or board lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters of two sizes to make cutouts, or make your own patterns using heavy paper (cutting around the pattern on the dough with a knife).

Place the cookies on an aluminum foil-lined or Silpat-lined cookie sheet. If you plan to make large cookies, cut out the “window” portions after the cookie has been placed on the cookie sheet.

Fill the cutout windows with pieces of candy. Small windows will make it necessary for you to break the candy into smaller pieces. Fill the windows with candy until the candy is just level with the dough.

To make hanging the cookies easier, punch a hole ¼-inch from the top with a plastic drinking straw.

Bake the cookies in a preheated 375º oven for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are very light brown and candy has melted. If the candy has not spread out within the cutout design at the end of baking time, spread with a metal spatula immediately upon removing from oven. Cool completely before removing from cookie sheet.

Store cookies, separating layers with waxed paper, in an airtight container.



Enjoy!

[paperwhite]

well, not entirely ...the sugar cookie dough rolls and cuts really well.

the original recipe (from a cooking website) was for shortbread. And the instructions showed a lovely cut out cookie..which simply could not have been made using that recipe! It just goes to show that not everything you read on the internet is true

OK on to the disaster story..(brace yourself) I made a batch using your recipe Katie E..And the cookies were great..but the 'windows' turned out really really bitter! in fact I was shopping with friends, we all bit into the cookies at about the same time and all of us, kids and mums spat them out right in the middle of the department store The crushed life-savers tasted fine.. but the cooked ones were ..completely different.

So... maybe 'lifesavers' are now made with different flavorings which are not heat stable? or maybe there was a trace of something in my mortar and pestle which tainted the candy?

Anyway, thank goodness I hadn't made them for a bake sale or anything.. and really I had a lot of fun and learned two things...about doing big cookies on the tray and the correct recipe to use. Now i am going to set myself a mission...to find a suitable candy for making perfect windows.