Mama's Golden Recipe: Basic Cut-out Cookies
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Chef :
cookpad.japan
Mama's Golden Recipe: Basic Cut-out Cookies
I think the recipe for this cookie dough originally came from a recipe on the back of a box that I saw when I (Mama) started making sweets in elementary school. Now it's a popular recipe. I've made fine adjustments to the recipe, and have settled on this ratio for more than 10 years. I have continued to make cookies with this reliable recipe.
Cooking instructions
* Step 1
First, make the dough. Add sugar to room temperature butter, and blend well with a whisk. Add the beaten egg gradually and mix well.
* Step 2
Add the sifted powders, and mix gently with a spatula. Flatten the dough and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more. (The dough can be frozen and stored in this state.)
* Step 3
Roll the dough to about 5 mm thick. If you roll the dough between plastic wrap or parchment paper, you don't need to use flour. (If too much flour is used, it will get into the dough and ultimately cause the dough to crumble.) Cut the dough with cookie cutters of your choice.
* Step 4
You can prepare the cookies up to Step 3, and freeze. Lay the cut-out dough on a tray lined with plastic wrap, and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Just make sure that the water content does not evaporate. The frozen cookies can be baked as is. It may take a few minutes longer.
* Step 5
Put the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake until golden in an oven preheated to 340ºF (170ºC). (Regular size cookies will take 10 to 14 minutes.) If you prefer glossy cookies, brush the dough with egg yolk (not listed) after setting on the baking sheet.
* Step 6
Dough variations ... For a chocolate dough, switch 5 g of the flour (more for a darker color) with cocoa. You can also add chocolate chips. For a matcha green tea dough, switch 1-2g of the dough (note that matcha colors very well).
* Step 7
Increase the variations by adding chopped peel, poppy seeds or nuts, etc., to the plain dough.
* Step 8
Here are some adaptations of the design. I am still working on the finish, but here is a sweets box for chocolate candies (about 13x8x5 cm). I used exactly one recipe worth of dough.
* Step 9
Decide the size and shape of the box, and make a pattern. Here, I referred to the shape of the paper box in which I would put the sweets box in. The sweets box is about 20% smaller than the paper box. The base and top of the box are large, so I poked holes with a fork at places so the cookie would bake easily and the fork holes would not stand out.
* Step 10
Prepare flowers and leaves for decoration. Usually, I use natural ingredients such as matcha and cherries for children... This box is for an adult, and I wanted a simple yet "showy" finish, so I directly kneaded red and green paste coloring into the dough.
* Step 11
I used a plum-shaped cutter for the flowers. For the leaves, I used a chrysanthemum cutter and cut out a thick piece of dough. Then, I rolled it thinly in one direction to make an oblong shape. I used the serrated edge of the tool (shown on lower right) to mark the center of the flower. A table knife was used to mark the leaf's veins. I placed the cutouts in the freezer once to harden the dough.
* Step 12
I put the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I wanted a simple finish, so I did not use an egg-yolk glaze. There are various cookie sizes, so I baked the larger pieces longer, and the smaller pieces shorter. Even still, the edges of the leaves got a little burnt.
* Step 13
Using icing as a glue, I nicely balanced (!?) and arranged the finished cookies! I made seasonal (rabbit and chicks for Easter) out of sprinkles and stuck them on four corners.
* Step 14
This is the finished box. The cookies expand when baked, so shave the edges with a knife and finely adjust the box corners. I shaved the glued edges to about 45 degrees.
* Step 15
Set the box into the paper box. I laid the sprinkles as the decorations on the bottom of the cookie box, and put chocolates inside (6 chocolate cups fit).
* Step 16
Set the lid, add a handmade message, and it's ready! I was relieved that finished size was just right and the top of the paper box fit.
* Step 17
These are regular cookies made with a cookie cutter. You can even use stamp-type cutters. They have a very simple finish.
* Step 18
These are cookies decorated as Thank you cards. They come with a sugar paste and icing badge.
* Step 19
These cookies were made into a sheet-type birthday cake decoration. The cookies will get soggy from the whipped cream, so arrange them just before eating.
* Step 20
Here's a set for moving a birthday cake for reference. I put the decoration cookies ("HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and name) in a separate container from the main cake.
* Step 21
I even made a Christmas train.
* Step 22
Here are some Christmas decorations.
* Step 23
Here's my Christmas in 2009.
* Step 24
I decorated a plain sponge cake with a boy for the children's day celebration in Japan.
Note: if there is a photo you can click to enlarge it
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