Cookies with a Message

My sister bought me this fantastic cookie cutter from Williams-Sonoma last Christmas. Williams-Sonoma is similar to the Wheel and Barrow stores in Australia. I love that store and can spend hours browsing the household pots and pans, beautiful homeware and recipe books.

You can customise your message on the cookies using the letters and templates. The cookies we made this time are for Ashleigh and Caitlin's teachers and friends, so they decided "Happy Holidays", but there are also other messages e.g. "It's a Boy", "Thank You", "I Love You", "Welcome", "Baby Girl".

390 gm (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
185gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
250gm (1 cup) caster sugar
Food colouring (optional)
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed and slowly add the sugar and a few drops of food colouring (if adding colour) and beat for 2 minutes.
2. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Fold in half the flour and beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Then, add the remaining flour and continue beating until all the flour has been mixed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. 2 to 5 minutes
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal flat discuss. Wrap each piece separately and place into the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
5. Remove the dough from fridge and let stand for 5 minutes.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 4.5 to 6mm.
7. Preheat the oven to 140C in a fan-forced oven (90C for my oven). Line the baking tray with baking paper.
8. Dip the cutter into flour just before using and cut out the desired shape. Hold each cutter over the baking tray and depress the plunger to remove the cutout shape. Gather scrape dough and roll out again until all cookies are cut.
9. Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 20 to 30 minutes.
10. Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, about 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to let the cookies go to brown especially around the edges.
11. Remove tray from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired. 
12. Store the decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Makes about 21 star shaped cookies.
Recipe source: Williams-Sonoma Kitchen