Making cut-out cookies is a tradition which can be passed on from mother to child along with the cookie cutters.

Here is a picture of my daughter making Christmas cookies with her little brother

and then again twenty-five years later, with her son.

But, cookie making can be messy and frustrating.  Let’s face it, we don’t bake every day, so one of the things that can happen is that we decide that we are going to bake, take out our recipe book, and start cracking eggs only to discover that we don’t have any butter or that the flour has developed little black spots that fly out of there as soon as we open the lid.

Over the years I have learned the hard way little tricks to make the process go smoothly.  There are several internet sites devoted to baking where you can find all sorts of tips and tricks, but here go mine!

It’s a good idea to get out all the ingredients and set them on the counter.  That way, if you are missing anything you can simply put everything back or go to the store and get what you are missing.

As you use an item, put it back up!  Sometimes while baking you get interrupted. If the item is still on the counter, it means that you have not used it.

Use fresh ingredients!  Baking powder, which is used in a lot of cut out cookies in particular, does not have a long shelf life.  Change it out every six months and when you do, write the date of purchase on the container.  Remember that double-acting powder is called that for a reason.  It begins to activate when it becomes wet and then again with heat.  Baking powder is made up of one part soda and two parts cream of tartar usually with a little corn starch added.  Check your baking powder for freshness by putting a little in water and seeing if it bubbles, as it should.  If not, then substitute it for soda and cream of tartar.

Eggs are another ingredient which can be “iffy”.  Eggs come in different sizes.  If a recipe calls for a large egg it means just that.  If you only have medium size eggs, for instance, and the recipe calls for 3 large eggs, you might consider using 4.  Eggs separate better if they are cold right out of the refrigerator, but if you are making a cookie that calls for beaten egg whites then they need to be at room temperature. 

Substitutions can lead to innovations and feed your creative instinct, but it is always better to substitute wisely.  If the recipe calls for pecans and you only have peanuts and you love peanuts, then by all means substitute peanuts for pecans.  Likewise for substituting dried cherries for raisins or nutmeg for cinnamon.  But, don’t substitute with the types of sugar, flour, or fat called for or, change the proportions.  However, once you have tried a recipe fiddling with the flour/sugar/fat ratio can convert one cookie into quite another and voilà, you have created your own unique goodie.

• Always      read your recipe completely before you begin!
• Always      pre-heat oven before putting in your cookies
• Use a      baking sheet which is at least 2 inches smaller than the oven all the way      around.
• Make      sure that baking sheets are clean!       Wash them out between each batch and allow them to cool because hot      baking sheets will mean cookies will spread.
• If not      using parchment paper, do you need to grease the baking sheet?
• Do you      leave your cookies on the baking sheet for several minutes or remove them      immediately? 

Most cut out cookies need to be refrigerated before cutting out, but, cold dough is hard to handle.

that is why it is a good idea to divide the dough in 2 or 3 balls and then press them into a disk. And then wrap it in plastic wrap or waxed paper before refrigerating it.

But cold dough right out of the refrigerator might crack so leave it out a few minutes before handling it-

Place the disk on a well floured surface, and lightly dust it with flour.

Cut out cookies from the outside in, using cutters of the same size.

Place the cookies on parchment paper or silpat and bake!

 Happy Baking!