Every year my family gets together for a cookie party- we make these cutout cookies and come together to frost them with all of the tubes and tips and sprinkles and sparkles. They are buttery and a little bit crisp and super delicious. I'm not sure who enjoys playing with the frosting more, the kids or the adults. It makes a huge mess to let the kids go crazy with the bags of icing but if you do it yourself, or with adults only, I can only hope you won't be finding sugar sprinkles ground into the cushions 6 months later.



There are a couple of important things to know about the frosting equipment and process, which will make the whole ordeal easier and more fun in the long run.

The best food coloring to use are the paste type, not the liquid type you buy in a regular supermarket. With the liquid type, you will only be able to achieve light pastel shades of icing which is A-OK for Easter but not as good for Christmas. I like to use the Ateco brand 6 pack of food coloring pastes because it includes black- not because I want black frosting on Christmas, but because adding a bit of black paste helps make some of the other colors less gaudy. For example, to get the shade of green I got, I put mostly green with a touch of yellow and a touch of black. The red color was achieved with mostly red plus a bit of yellow to warm it up and 1 drop of black to deepen it.

I like to use the disposable clear plastic icing bags, although I generally wash them out and use them a couple of times as opposed to disposing them right away. You can get the bags with the tips and accoutrements at places like Sur La Table, or if you're in the Bay Area, there is a funky shop in Daly City called Sugar N Spice that's a fraction of the price and an interesting excursion. (Both stores have scores of great cookie cutters too.) If you don't have icing bags and don't want to buy them and are satisfied with only a plain writing tip- which is my favorite in fact- then you can seal the icing into a Ziploc bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner- that's your tip. Check the frosting flow and cut a little more as needed.



To fill the icing bag, put the tip and the inside coupling in the pointed part of the bag. Put the coupling collar on the outside of the bag and screw it onto the inner coupling. Hold the bag with the point down and fold over the top about 2 inches. Fill the bag about half full. Then fold the edge back up, twist, and secure tightly with a rubberband. If you are really well-practiced with doing it you might not need the rubberband, but I would definitely recommend it, because there is always a good chance of having icing spew out of the top of the bag onto your hand.

A couple more random things. Regarding sprinkles: Here I was just very simple and didn't use any sprinkles, but I did put some silver luster dust (also available at the above stores, and so so much fun) on the green stars. Regarding shapes: I like to make some that are kind of bite-size, like these little ones, and some that are a bit bigger. When you're buying a cookie cutter watch out for things that are too delicate or have little thin parts in the design, because the finished cookies tend to break so you're better off just sticking with something a bit more robust.

As the cookies age, the icing gets a little bit hard on the outside, making it possible to stack them (albeit a bit gingerly) and take them somewhere. They last pretty well for a couple of days in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap. As well you can make the cookies the day before and then ice them the next day which is what I did here.

Frosted Cutout Cookies

The Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup posdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cream butter and powdered sugar together.
• Add egg and vanilla and mix to incorporate fully.
• Add dry ingredients and mix until completely combined.
• Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or more.
• Take about 1/4 of the dough and form it into a disk. Put it onto a floured surface and roll it to about 1/8 or 1/4 inch thickness. You will need to use a lot of flour.
• Cut out using cookie cutters, and remove cookies with a pancake turner to a nonstick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet with parchment or a silpat on it.
• Bake for about 6 minutes, until edges are just beginning to brown. Let cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before removing them to wire rack to cool completely. They must be cool when you frost them or the frosting will melt.

The Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1 cube of soft butter
• 1 box powdered sugar
• a bit of milk, cream, or water
• a bit of vanilla

Method:

• Cream the butter and about 1/4 of the powdered sugar. Add powdered sugar gradually so it doesn't fly all over the place.
• Add vanilla and mix.
• Add liquid a little bit at a time with the mixer running, until icing is spreadable but not runny. If it gets too runny add more powdered sugar.
• Remove small amounts to small bowls and stir in food coloring to make different colors.
• If icing gets too soft in tubes from the warmth of your hands, put the tubes in the fridge for 15 minutes or so.