Sourdough Cut Out Cookies

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These Sourdough Cut Out Cookies with royal icing are a delightful way to use your discard during the Christmas and holiday season. Soft, flavorful, and perfect for decorating, these sourdough sugar cookies make a festive addition to any holiday cookie tray.

Prep Time15

Cook Time24

Chill Time4

Total Time4 39

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 423kcal

Author: Joy Kincaid

Equipment

Ingredients

Cookie Dough:

1 cup unsalted butter cold and cubed (2 sticks), about 227 grams
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (about 300 grams)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (about 10 grams)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sourdough discard (about 120 grams)
4 cups flour spooned and leveled (about 480 grams)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (about 6 grams)

Royal Icing:

2 pound bag of powdered sugar (about 908 grams)
5 tablespoons meringue powder (about 53 grams)
3/4 cup warm water (about 180 grams)
gel food coloring colors of your choice

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), add sugar and continue to mix until combined. *If you don't have a stand mixer, allow the butter to come to room temperature before creaming with a hand mixer.
Add vanilla extract, eggs, and discard to the bowl and mix until all wet ingredients are incorporated, scrape down the bowl as needed.
Add flour and salt and mix on low until you can no longer see any flour and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces and roll each piece out 1/4 inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper.
Place the rolled-out dough in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight before cutting out desired shapes. I like to let my dough sit in the refrigerator overnight.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and using cookie cutters, cut out your desired shapes, placing them on the prepared baking sheet. Place the tray in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. I like to cut out all of my shapes and put them in my refrigerator while I preheat my oven. Then as I need the cookies I can get them out of the refrigerator to bake. You want to bake the cookies while the dough is cold.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Line an additional baking sheet with parchment paper and remove cut cookies from the refrigerator and place on your baking sheet about 2 inches apart from each other. Put any cookies you are not baking at that time back in the refrigerator.
Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned and the tops of the cookies are no longer shiny.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Continue baking cookies until all of the dough has been used. Do not put raw cookies on an already warm baking sheet to bake. Make sure your tray is room temperature and not warm from a previous batch.
Make the Royal Icing: While the cookies are cooling you can make the royal icing. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the 2 pound bag of powdered sugar, meringue powder and water. Mix on low until all of the ingredients are combined and then turn to medium and mix for 3 minutes.
Use food coloring gel to color your royal icing. Separate out the desired amount of icing and add 1-2 drops of gel food coloring to color. Use a small spatula or spoon to mix. If you are not ready to use the royal icing right away make sure to place it in an airtight container so that it does not dry out. If the icing is too runny add a little more powdered sugar a teaspoon at a time. If it is too thick, add a little bit of warm water 1/4 teaspoon at a time.
Decorate the Cookies: When you are ready to decorate the cookies use piping bags or ziplock bags to put your royal icing in. Cut a small hole in the tip of your bag.
Carefully outline a cookie with the royal icing and allow the outline to dry for a couple of minutes.
Fill in or “flood” the cookie with the royal icing. You can use a spoon or cut a larger hole in your bag to fill in your cookie with icing. I like to use a toothpick to spread out the icing and pop any air bubbles I might see.
Decorate the cookies using different colors of royal icing and sprinkles.
Allow decorated cookies to dry at room temperature for about 6-12 hours. Once icing is completely dry you can stack cookies and package them.

Notes

*This recipe calls for cubed and chilled butter that is creamed with a stand mixer. This helps maintain a sturdy dough that holds its shape for cut-outs, while still incorporating air for a tender bite. If you don’t have a stand mixer, allow the butter to come to room temperature before using a hand mixer to cream it.

To Store baked & iced cookies- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To freeze, make sure icing is completely dry and store cookies in an airtight freezer safe container for up to 3 months. To thaw, allow cookies to come to room temperature on the counter in the container.

Leftover royal icing can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can store it for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Nutrition