Butter Cookies with Sprinkles

You guys might remember last week we posted some vintage Halloween recipes and talked about how Halloween was much more of a baking holiday than it is today.

I dug out my vintage Halloween cookie cutters and snapped this picture for that post. The orange ones are a set of 1970s cookie cutters from Amscan, and the copper witch cookie cutter is from the 1950s. The aluminum pumpkin cookie cutter is probably from around the 1980s.

I bought an entire gallon sized Ziploc bag stuffed full of these vintage cookie cutters (and many, many more) for a whopping $1 when I was in college. Although the bag had a lot of awesome cookie cutters in it, I really wanted it because I saw these Halloween ones in the bag!

So, since I dug them out for the photo, and since I was talking about baking last week, I got inspired to do some Halloween baking of my own.

This recipe for Butter Cookies is one that was handed down from my husband Ryan's side of the family. He remembers when he was a kid making these with his mom and grandma (known as Gram to really everyone who knew her, and later Great Gram once the grandkids were born).

And these ladies then carried on the tradition by making these cookies with the grandkids (our boys and their cousins) at Christmastime every year too! So, if you're keeping track, that's Great Gram (1), Ryan's Mom (2), Ryan and Me (3), and Our Kids (4) - this recipe is 4 generations strong so far.

And we want to keep it the tradition going!

If you're looking for a yummy cookie that is not overly sweet, then give this recipe for Butter Cookies a try. It's fun to make because you can cut the dough into any shape that you want (perfect for holiday cookies). And if you are making them around the holidays, it's a nice break from all the other super sweet goodies that might be around - in this case all of the pumpkin spice flavored desserts that are currently in season and all of the fun size chocolate bars that are going to flood the house at Halloween.

I must note here that the original handwritten recipe is just two steps. (Many of the steps are completed from memory.) But, since this was my first time making the recipe, I have added in all the steps that we did. Our cookies came out perfect!

Butter Cookies with Sprinkles

1/2 lb butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg, whole
1 egg, separated (1 egg yolk mixed into dough in step 1 - save the egg white for step 2)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Mix in sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, flour, and salt.
2. Mix together 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon of water and set aside.
3. Chill dough for at least 1 hour. Place egg white mixture in refrigerator while dough is chilling.
4. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator at least 15 minutes before you want to make the cookies. 
6. Roll out dough on floured surface to desired thickness. Use cookie cutters to judge thickness. (About 1/8" - 1/4" thick.)
7. Use a spatula to move cut cookies to cookie sheets. 
8. Brush egg white mixture on surface of cookies. Add sprinkles to decorate.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes.
10. Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.

This recipe is perfect to make with kids because unlike many recipes that are cut with cookie cutters, these are decorated with sprinkles instead of icing. That is a really easy thing for little hands to do!

Tips for Making Cookies with Cookie Cutters

Since this was my first time making these cookies, I thought I'd share a few tips that I learned from my husband and kids, who are pros at this!

• Unlike pie dough, you don't have to roll the cookie dough all at one time. You can divide the chilled dough into smaller portions and then roll it. It makes the task easier.
• You can buy rubber rolling pin rings to put onto each side of your rolling pin to help you gauge how thick you're rolling your dough.
• Make sure to flour your rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking to it while you're rolling your cookie dough.
• Dip your cookie cutters in flour to help prevent them from sticking to the dough. You can also wiggle them back and forth just a little bit to make sure that you cut all the way through the dough.
• Cookies made with cookie cutters do not spread when baking, so you can place them pretty close together on the cookie sheets for baking.
• Cut your cookie shapes close to each other on your rolled dough to prevent extra scraps and extra re-rolling of the dough.
• Make sure your cookies are completely cooled before you transfer them to a container to store. If you stack or overlap warm cookies, that may cause them to warp or break.

This recipe is also perfect to make Christmas cookies - you just use different cookie cutters and sprinkles to decorate the dough.

Hope you give this recipe a try! It's a fun project to do with the kiddos and it's a fun way to spend an afternoon!

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