Hello, hello my baking friends! I’m getting back into the swing of fall baking after a hiatus of sorts, and am so excited to share this perfect, keep-its-shape, slightly crispy, somewhat spicy nutmegy cut-out cookie recipe.
The idea for the nutmeg flavor came from my friend Ruth, who makes what she calls Apple Blossom cookies. Her dough is similar to a fluffy (not a keep-its-shape kind of a cookie) sugar cookie with an added nutmeg spice. She sandwiches apple jelly between two cookies, and mmm oh so good! You could do the same with this recipe for another layer of goodness, but I also love them simply on their own or paired with royal icing.
For this batch of cookies I used vanilla royal icing (you can find the recipe here), but I’m thinking an almond version would be so nice too! It’s a simple substitute of almond extract for the vanilla, in case you’d like to try.
Either way, have fun baking and enjoy sampling!
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to drop me a line below in the comment section or on social media. You can find me on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube.
xo,
Marian
p.s. A few decorating tips and cookie cutter sources below.
Nutmeg Sugar Cut-Out Cookie Recipe
Nutmeg Cut Out Sugar Cookie
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder *take this out if you don't want your cookies to spread
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low to medium speed. (Use the paddle attachment). Mix until thoroughly incorporated - for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more. Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough. If you'd like a light and fluffy cookie, that's ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking; not ideal if you'd like the cookie to hold its shape.
- Add ground nutmeg and mix.
- Add eggs slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once and mix.
- Whisk your dry ingredients together. (Flour and salt, and baking powder if you're using it).
- Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl. Place a large tea towel or two small tea towels between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won't escape. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Remove the tea towels and observe the dough mixing; when it clumps around the paddle attachment it's ready. It's also important at this stage not to over mix the dough (the gluten in the flour develop and the dough can become tough).
- Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.
- Cut out cookie shapes. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and repeat.
- Put cookie dough shapes back into the fridge for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again. They will then hold their shape better when baked.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F or 176°C.
- Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the edges become golden brown. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.
- Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate!
*Link to post on stopping dough from spreading HERE.
Cookie Thickness
As I’ve received quite a few questions about cookie thickness (I should have use perfection strips for these cookies, each batch is a bit different as I eyeballed this time), here is post for you on that.
Royal Icing
You can find my favorite royal icing recipe here. The consistency of icing is key for easy decorating. Click here to see a YouTube video on finding the right icing thickness.
Cookie Decorating Tips
Decorating Items
What you’ll need (these are affiliate links):
- Piping Tips – PME #1.5, PME #2 and PME #3 (I used a few more tips, please leave me a comment below if you have questions)
- Piping Bags
- Couplers
- Gel paste colors
- Scribe Tool or Toothpicks
Decorating Steps and Cookie Cutter Sources
This video on outlining and flooding is a good place to start if you’re new to decorating cookies with royal icing. These cookie decorating basics YouTube videos may also be helpful to get you started.
The pie cookie cutter is from my lovely sponsor, Cheap Cookie Cutters. You can find it here. The tutorial for how to decorate the pie cookie is here.
Thanks to bon_farine (Instagram) for the basket design inspiration! The basket cutter can be found at CopperGifts, here. For those of you who have asked, the royal icing consistency for piping the basket lines is fairly thick, like toothpaste. Here is a video tutorial for you on piping lines if you’re interested.
A similar basket weave video tutorial I’ve made can be found here.
Click here for a pumpkin cookie video tutorial.
A hedgehog cookie video tutorial can be found here.
Some tips on decorating these turkey cookies can be found here.
Thanks again to bon_farine for the coat design idea! The cutter I used from Cheap Cookie Cutters can be found here.
I’ve finally started playing around with airbrushing… For these simple leaf cookies I used a DinkyDoodle airbrush from How Sweet is That?’s shop.
The mushroom cookie cutter is from Ecrandal and can be found here. Video tutorial can be found here.
Happy decorating!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Definitely want to try it. How do you measure the flour i.e. do you scoop the flour into the measuring cup and then even out by sliding a knife across it VS tapping down to flatten the flour. I typically weigh my ingredients so want to make sure I am measuring the cups of flour accurately.
Thanks, Chris
Hi Chris,
I scoop the flour and then even out by sliding a knife across. I do not tap down to flatten the flour. Thanks for asking for clarification and happy baking!
Hi Marian:
Thanks for getting back so promptly and for the clarification. I guess I will be baking tonight!!!
I live in Canada so your recipe is timely as our Thanksgiving is this weekend.
Cheers, Chris
It’s mine too, happy Thanksgiving Chris!
These designs are so adorable. Thanks for sharing all the links to tutorials. So helpful, too.
Thanks Joy!
Marian! I’ve missed your brilliant precision and whimsical designs – thanks for the timely post. Will have to whip up a batch this weekend with A who loves to decorate, as you know. Happy baking my friend 🙂
Awww, thanks for the message Kerri-Ann and have fun baking!!
Hi Marian,
Beautiful post! Thank you for sharing all your talents with us.
LOVE the basket with the flower’s hanging down. I have to try the recipe! Every cookie looks just gorgeous and perfect!
Happy Thanksgiving!
ML
Thank you so much Maria! xo
Missed you so much Marian!
Lovely cookies and SO much of them!! I wonder how you decorate them all patiently 😉
Aww thank you so much Roshini! Thanks for commenting!
Marian, I just saw your blogpost (so late ahhh),
I cannot get over the blue coat and the basket.
I mean come on, how can EVERY line be so perfect?
Love your video to it, too!! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise for everyone, with that everyone can learn it and prevent errors from the beginning.
I love the airbrush cookies too!!
God bless you, and praise God fro giving you this huge amount of talent.
Love from Germany, my girl 🙂
hello!
thank you for sharing the recipe and the tips. I’m looking forward to try them for Christmas.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
thanks
regards,
claudia
Thank you, Claudia! It makes at least 35 average sized cookies.