Day of the Dead Christmas Cutouts

I'd have to say my favorite part of any holiday are the traditions attached to it. The traditions around Christmas are definitely my favorite. No huge surprise but we don't go crazy with the holiday baking around. 1) We aren't actually big 'sweets' eaters. 2) I am not a fan of baking in general.

But we do typically always make cut out sugar cookies, salted caramels and of course gingerbread babies with our niece and nephew.

This year I found these Day of the Dead cookie cutters which I knew G would think are really cool. He loves Day of the Dead decor. 

Usually we stick to more traditional decorating of our cookies, and we did a few stockings and mittens just to be traditional.

So although the Mexican Day of the Dead has is not exactly seasonal we thought if we decorated them with Christmas colors hey they'd be festive. 

But let me tell you once the cookies were done and cooled and we started decorating them and it was really hard to decorate them as ornately as they were done on the box. 

But we had fun trying and of course they were just as delicious. 

RECIPE:

Christmas Cutout Sugar Cookies

prep time: 90 MIN

 

cook time: 11 MIN

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Store-bought or homemade frosting

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition, then add the vanilla.

Turn the mixer off. Add the flour and then beat just until combined.

Remove the dough, shape it into a disk about 6 inches wide and wrap it securely in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 1 hour. (Sometimes I put them in freezer for 30 minutes to speed the process up.)

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.(This helps immensely to prevent cookies from breaking. A very necessary tool to use.)

Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half. Roll half the dough until it's about 1/4-inch-thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out your desired shapes and place them roughly 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining dough. 

Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes until pale golden, and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired.