Cut-Out Sugar Cookies 🐯

 

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (Tigers for Lunar New Year! 🐯🧧)

Ingredients

 Makes ~45 cookies (each 4 inches long)

1. 🐯 For The Cookies:
2. 0.75 cups (10 Tablespoons, or 1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3. 1.5 Tablespoons (24 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
4. 3/4 cup (160 grams) white sugar
5. 1 egg (at room temperature)
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla
7. 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
8. Orange and red gel food coloring
9. 1 and 1/4 cup (153 grams) cake flour
10. 3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
11. 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
12. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
13. 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
14. 🐯 For The White Royal Icing:
15. 1/2 cup (50 grams) powdered sugar
16. 1/2 Tablespoon meringue powder
17. Water, added a teaspoon at a time
18. 🐯 For The Chocolate Details:
19. 1/2 cup chocolate chips
20. 1/2 teaspoon shortening

Steps

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar at medium speed until fluffy and pale (~5 minutes).

2. Add egg and extracts and mix until well incorporated. Add several drops of orange gel coloring and a couple of drops of red gel coloring until an intense orange color is achieved.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients. Then, add to the wet ingredients in two batches and mix on low speed until just incorporated.

   

4. Transfer dough to plastic wrap, seal well, flatten slightly, and refrigerate at least two hours (but best to chill overnight)

   

5. Roll dough out between two well-floured pieces of parchment paper to 1/4 inch (~6 mm) thickness. Place in freezer to chill for 20 minutes (or in fridge for a bit longer). This will make the dough easier to handle and cut.

   

6. Cut with a cat-shaped cookie cutter and transfer to parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Place them an inch or two apart. Gather the scraps and re-roll to make more cookies, chilling the dough as necessary.

   

7. Chill the cookies in the fridge for about 20 minutes (this will ensure that the cookies keep their shape while baking).
   Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C)

8. Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking.

9. Let cookies cool for -5 minutes before transferring them off of the cookie sheets. The cookies won’t be browned on the top, but will be slightly browned on the bottom, as shown.

   

10. Make the royal icing by combining the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Add water a little at a time and whisk well until a thick icing forms.

11. Transfer icing to a parchment paper cone (or a pastry bag fitted with a narrow tip) and apply white details as shown.

    

12. For chocolate, combine chocolate chips and shortening in a heat-proof bowl. Microwave in short (15 to 20 second) bursts, stirring well each time, until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.

13. Transfer chocolate to a parchment paper cone (or a small plastic bag with a corner snipped off) and apply black details as shown.

    

14. Have fun! No two need to be exactly alike. Let dry completely and store cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

    

15. Tips:
    🐅 If the dough is excessively sticky at the mixing stage, add a little flour. If you add too much, the cookies will become crispier and less tender. 

    🐅 If you don’t have cake flour, you can make a substitute. Combine 14 Tablespoons (114 grams) all-purpose flour with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and sift together.
    You could also use all purpose flour instead of cake flour. The texture of the cookies may be a little crispier.

     

    🐅 Black royal icing can be used instead of chocolate.