Cut-Out Butter Cookies - Happy Halloween!

I have tried many cut-out cookie recipes and this Martha Stewart recipe definitely has to be my favorite, the cookies taste really light, not too sweet and are soft but crispy.  I really like to bake cookies for my nephews, they always ask me to bake them different shapes and decorate them a certain way so I am always on the look out for cookie cutters and decorating ideas.  Halloween is almost here and I promised my niece I would make her some cookies and send them to her (she lives in WA).  I spent most of the morning decorating them but it was definitely worth it, they turned out great and I know the kids will love them :)

Happy Halloween!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer.  
2. Add flour and salt to the butter/sugar mixture, beat until it is the texture of a course meal.
3. In a separate small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks and vanilla.  Add to the large bowl and mix, mix until the dough forms.
   
4. Divide dough in half; form into two balls. Wrap in plastic; chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. 
6. On a floured surface, roll out one ball at a time to a thickness of 3/16 inch.
7. Cut dough into desired shapes; carefully transfer to baking sheets. 
8. Place the baking sheet with the desired shapes for 10 minutes into the refrigerator (this will help the cookies hold their shape better).
9. Bake until edges are firm (not brown), 10 to 15 minutes for 3-inch cookies. Cool 1 to 2 minutes on baking sheets; cool completely on a wire rack. 
10. Decorate as you wish. ** I used some store bought frosting, adding food coloring, put the frosting in Ziploc bags, cut the tip and used that to pipe out the frosting to decorate the cookies.
11. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

CANDY CORN COOKIES:

1. In order to make the candy corn cookies, divide the dough into 3 pieces.  
2. If you do not have orange food coloring, mix the red and yellow food coloring together to make orange and add to the first piece of dough. 
3. Add yellow food coloring to the second piece of dough.
4. Leave the third piece plain.
5. Roll out each piece of dough into logs and stick together, yellow at the bottom, orange in the middle and the "white" or plain piece on top, now shape into a triangle.  It works better if you wrap all three pieces together in plastic then shape into a triangle.
6. Place dough into the refrigerator for 1 hour or until cool.
7. Once cool, slice by the desired thickness and bake at 350 deg C for 10-15 minutes.
8. Cool 1 to 2 minutes on baking sheets; cool completely on a wire rack.

PICTURES:

I love colored dough, it looks so pretty and fun!

Shaping the candy corn cookies, so festive!

Candy Corn!! Baked and ready to eat!

Rolling out the dough and cutting some pumpkins.

Decorating the cookies, check out my awesome Ziploc bags frosting bags. I had some leaf sprinkles so I added them to the pumpkin cookies.