Description
These festive Slice and Bake Christmas Cookies are a delightful treat perfect for the holiday season. Featuring a buttery, tender dough combined with vibrant gel food coloring, these cookies are easy to prepare in advance and can be sliced directly from frozen for perfectly shaped, colorful treats. The recipe offers a fun way to create multicolored stacked designs that bake up light and lightly golden, making them a joy for both kids and adults to enjoy and decorate.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 4 cups (480 grams) all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (90 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
Additional Ingredients
- Gel food coloring (various colors as desired)
Instructions
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set this mixture aside for later use.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a separate large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the softened butter, confectioners’ sugar, and white sugar until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, ensuring a smooth texture.
- Add Vanilla and Eggs: Incorporate the vanilla extract and eggs into the butter mixture, then beat again until the ingredients are fully combined and the batter is smooth.
- Form Dough: Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients, using the mixer to combine until a soft dough forms. The dough should be soft but not sticky to the touch.
- Divide and Chill Dough: Wrap and refrigerate two-thirds of the plain dough. Divide the remaining one-third of dough into portions equal to the number of colors you’d like to use (the example uses green, brown, and blue, separated into three portions).
- Add Gel Food Coloring: Add gel food coloring to each portion of dough and mix thoroughly, either with a hand mixer or kneading by hand with gloves. Wrap each colored dough portion tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to chill.
- Shape Colored Dough: Remove the colored dough from the fridge and roll each portion to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use mini cookie cutters to cut out small shapes, then stack identical shapes into tall, firm stacks. Repeat this for all colored dough portions and freeze the stacks for a minimum of 4 hours to harden.
- Prepare Plain Dough: After about 3 hours in the fridge, remove the plain dough and let it sit at room temperature until softened, approximately 1 hour.
- Form Logs: Take the frozen colored shape stacks from the freezer. Press the softened plain dough around each colored stack forming a log, making sure the stack runs through the center of the log. For shapes with intricate details and corners, gently press small bits of plain dough into crevices before fully wrapping.
- Roll and Freeze Logs: Roll the logs gently between your hands until they are smooth, round, and evenly shaped. Wrap each log tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight to firm up.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
- Slice Cookies: Remove frozen logs from the freezer and let them sit for about 20 minutes so they soften slightly but remain firm. Use a sharp knife to slice the logs into 1/4-inch thick cookies.
- Bake Cookies: Place the cookie slices onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 9-10 minutes until they are set and just lightly golden at the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.
Notes
- Use gel food coloring to avoid making the dough too wet, which can happen with liquid colors.
- When stacking shapes for the colored dough, press gently but firmly to ensure the shapes stick together when wrapped in plain dough.
- Chilling and freezing dough and shapes is essential for maintaining cookie shape while baking.
- Allow frozen logs to soften slightly before slicing to prevent cracking.
- These cookies can be stored frozen for several weeks; slice and bake as needed.
- Feel free to experiment with different shapes and colors to match your holiday theme.
