Cookie cutters galore!
It was raining outside and I was unlucky to have both girls stuck at home with me. The rain makes them restless as they love to be outside playing in the backyard or in the playground near home. Emma had just gone down for a sleep and Caitlyn was following me around the home like a shadow. That’s when I decided to get her involved in the kitchen by helping me bake a batch of spiced cookies.
The best cookies for kids to make are the ones that uses cookie cutters. I managed to buy a container of 40 different cutters from Aldi many months ago for not much money. This container of cutters is awesome as it has a cutter for almost any occasion. When I presented Caitlyn with the container and asked her to choose 4 different cutters to use, she took the challenge head-on. She spent the next 15 minutes pondering over every cutter, telling me what shape the cutter was (and yes somewhere obscure!). Once the 4 were chosen, they were put aside while we made the cookie dough together.
I took a basic sugar cookie recipe and amended it to include a little cinnamon and nutmeg. These two flavours are traditionally used for Christmas cookies. However, by easing up on the amount of cinnamon used, the flavour is lighter than what is used typically during the festive season.
I love that this recipe doesn’t require you to chill the cookie dough prior to use. This saved me a total of 2 hours in the process! Plus it ensured Caitlyn and I made the cookies while Emma remained asleep.
Caitlyn and I had a lot of fun together making these. And the best thing is both girls love these spiced cookies. They constantly ask to have one as a snack when made. A batch never lasts very long!
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Spiced Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 250 g butter, salted
- 225 g white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 415 g plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (180 degrees fan forced).
- In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla until the mixture is pale yellow in colour.
- Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add 1 cup at a time into the creamed butter mixture. With the electric mixer, mix to combine. You will need to knead in the last 3/4 cup by hand.
- Divide dough into 2 balls. On floured surface roll out to about 4mm thickness. Use any cookie cutter and cut away.
- Knead together the leftovers. On a floured surface, roll out again to about 4mm thickness and cut away with cookie cutters. Repeat until all dough is used up.
- Place cut cookies on cookie trays. These cookies don't spread so don't need a lot of space between each one.
- Bake for 6-10 minutes, or until light brown.
Notes
- Remember, this is a recipe where you don't need to chill the dough. If you do, it will be too stiff to work with.
- Omit both the cinnamon and nutmeg if you want a plain sugar cookie recipe.