Skinny Christmas Sugar Cookies
Yields: 24-28 cookies
 
These buttery cookies are really cute and so easy to make! They’re best if eaten the same day they’re iced, but iced cookies can be stored in an airtight container in between layers of wax paper for 2 days. Undecorated cookies may be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.
  • for the cookies
  • 1 ¼ cup (150g) all-purpose flour (measured like this), plus more for rolling
  • ¾ tsp cornstarch
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp butter extract
  • ½ cup + 2 tbsp (120g) granulated sugar
  • for the icing
  • ½ cup + 2 tbsp (75g) powdered (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp skim milk
  • food coloring (optional)
  1. To prepare the cookies, whisk together 1 ¼ cups of flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg, vanilla extract, and butter extract. Stir in the sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Transfer the dough to the center of a large sheet of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1”-tall rectangle. Cover the top with another large sheet of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for 1 hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
  3. Leaving the cookie dough between the sheets of plastic wrap, roll it out until ⅛” thick. Lightly flour standard-sized holiday cookie cutters, and press them into the dough, making sure each shape lays as close to its neighbors as possible to minimize unused dough. Peel the unused dough away from the shapes, and place them onto the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the unused dough, and repeat.
  4. Bake the cut out cookie dough at 350°F for 9-12 minutes. (The rerolled dough generally requires a little less time.) Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  5. To prepare the icing, stir together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in a small bowl. Add any food coloring, if using. Spoon into a zip-topped bag, and snip off the corner. Pipe onto the cooled cookies.
Notes: If you'd like to make these cookies gluten-free, then most store-bought gluten-free flour blends (also called "all-purpose" gluten-free flour blends!) should work, if measured like this.

I highly recommend using butter extract because it gives them the stereotypical buttery sugar cookie flavor without the excess fat and calories! This is the kind I use. An additional 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract may be substituted in its place.

As written, the icing recipe only yields enough for a “minimalist” decorated appearance, like how the sugar cookies look in the photographs above. If you like more icing, feel free to make more!

The first round of cookies may bake slower (closer to 9-12 minutes), whereas the rerolled cookie dough seems to bake faster (7-9 minutes). Keep a close eye on your cookies because ovens do vary!

I used a set of Wilton’s comfort grip cookie cutters I bought last holiday season. They sell a similar set here. When baking cookies, I prefer plastic cookie cutters over metal ones because the metal ones can bend or become deformed.

{low fat, low calorie}
Recipe by Amy's Healthy Baking at https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2014/12/13/skinny-christmas-sugar-cookies/