Halloween Sugar Cookies (cookie recipe)

The cutest Halloween cookies from the PERFECT cut out cookie recipe! Perfect for decorating! Sturdy, soft on the inside and so so good!! 

This is a very easy recipe, with just a small refrigeration time! You want your butter chilled before cutting and baking so your cookies have minimal spreading. I weigh my ingredients - that way I get the same cookie each time - BUT you can absolutely measure them out for quick and easy cookies!

I highly recommend using a rolling pin with thickness rings so you get even, consistent cookies every time. You can also get different ones with different thicknesses. It is all personal preference. I use a 1/4" ring, so that is what my baking time is based off of. I find it the perfect thickness. I know some like their cookies thicker, more professional looking, but I think its just too much cookie. Again, personal preference!

WHAT YOU NEED

• Flour - 400g (3 cups)
  
• Baking Powder - 1 tsp
• Butter - 2 sticks (1 cup) - room temp (min. 20 minutes out on counter)
• Sugar - 200g (1 cup)
• Egg - 1 large
• Vanilla - 1/2 Tbsp

HOW TO MAKE CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIES

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Sift your flour and baking powder together in large bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream together butter and sugar in stand mixer or with hand mixer in large bowl.

3. Add in your vanilla and egg and beat until combined. Add in your flour mixture in thirds until combined. It will form a ball around your paddle, that means its ready.

4. Pull out and wrap in saran plastic wrap and place in fridge for about 20-30 minutes.

5. Lightly flour surface and place cookie dough on top. Flour top of dough and rolling pin. Roll out to desired thickness (I do 1/4") and move cut outs to cookie sheet. Leave 2 inches space between the cookies.

6. Bake for 6-9 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through bake time. Let set on cookie sheet a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing.

ROYAL ICING RECIPE

I found this recipe and instructions from a YouTuber/YouTube channel. I think the easiest is to link you directly to her for her recipe and how to video. It is MASSIVELY helpful and a great one to watch to know how to make! You can find it HERE.

TIPS

- You can make your dough and icing early(days, weeks) and freeze it! 

-Bake your cookies in groups of similar sizes. Smaller cookies together, larger cookies together. That way you get a more consistently cooked cookie batch.

-The more you work with the dough, the softer the butter gets and more spread will happen while baking. So roll out and get as many cut outs as you can each time so your not working your dough too much.

-When icing, do your base layers one day, then your top/detail layers the next. that gives them plenty of time to dry and no bleeding.

-Add your white color gel to your icing! May not seem necessary, but it helps with color bleeding.