Ok, so I didn't make up this recipe...mostly, but I've been using and changing it for years. It's Laylah's absolute favorite cookie to make, she calls them shape cookies because we use cookie cutters (shapes). We have about a thousand cookies cutters thanks to a jumbo pack my mom sent one year-dinosaurs, every letter of the alphabet, holiday shapes, patriotic shapes, animals, vehicles, sports, and last but not least, plain old shapes. Out of every cookie, cupcake, treat, or brownie we've made together, she chose these to take to pre-school for her birthday. They were a huge hit! Parents and teachers asked for the recipe. They wanted to make them with the kids in class!
This recipe came from a newspaper clipping my mother found right before my husband came back from serving in Iraq for over a year. It was supposed to be for heart shaped cookies to use for chocolate fondu. She thought it looked like something romantic for me to do when he finally got home. He missed getting home for Valentine's day by three days, but I made them anyway, with the fondu, and lots and lots of champagne, for his homecoming dinner. It's been a favorite ever since.
Now we have the two "helpers" in the kitchen, and this is the perfect cookie recipe for kids. It's easy, it's fast, they are almost fool-proof to roll out (none of that breaking apart crap you get with some roll out cookies because the dough is too sticky), and the flakey, buttery, vanilla taste is totally addicting. Though you can substitute other flavors, I've also used maple during the fall, and almond and rum work well in the winter months.
Laylah's Shape Cookies
2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
~1 tsp heavy cream or milk if needed
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Measure flour, baking powder, and cornstarch into a bowl and sift together, or whisk, works just as well, and takes less time. Laylah loves putting the baking powder in and whisking, it kind of makes a bit of a mess, but it's fun. Beat the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a mixer until creamy. Add the flour mixture a little at a time until incorporated. If the dough will not hold together (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't) add a little bit of cream or milk, a few drops at a time, until it holds together and you can form it into a ball.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about a 1/4 inch, maybe thicker depending on what shape of cookies cutters you use (hint: I use parchment paper, sprinkle with flour, roll out the dough and do the cut outs, then remove the excess around the cookies and slide the whole thing onto a baking sheet, this eliminates the often disastrous step of moving the cookies from floured surface to baking sheet). This dough does not expand, so you can put the cookies as close as you can without touching to use up more of the dough each time you roll it out. Bake for about twenty minutes or until just golden around the edges.
Let the cookies cool completely before decorating. I've used all sorts of stuff to decorate them, colored sugars put on before baking, store bought icing in a variety of flavors, home made butter icing, home made glaze, dipping in whipped cream, making them into jelly sandwiches, all of it is super tasty with these cookies. Laylah's favorite is probably strawberry store bought icing (it's pink) with an un-holy amount of sprinkles piled on top. Today we did colored icings, she actually did a really good job, I only helped on a few of them. Connor helped too, mostly by eating the dough (which is also great, no raw eggs so safe to eat!) but he liked the Mickey Mouse cookie cutter too.
Hope you enjoy eating them, but mostly I hope you enjoy baking them with someone you love.
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