Fuzz came home from school today and embarked on a relentless campaign to make cut-out cookies. I wasn't really in the mood, but figured I could get in the mood if it involved a new recipe. We ended up making Whole Wheat Cut Out Cookies from King Arthur. The title of their actual recipe is Thin & Crisp Wheat Cookies, but I think Whole Wheat Cut Out Cookies sounds better.
Fuzz is obsessed with worms right now, so I wasn't surprised when our dough cutting session evolved into a bunch of worm making and worm story telling and worm eating. Eating raw dough is not smiled upon around here, but I am happy to say that this particular dough contains no raw eggs. It's also easy to halve, which comes in handy when you are making it for someone with a short attention span.
Best of all, the cookies are really good thanks to the wheat, orange and vanilla flavor. I wouldn't bother with decorating because mucking these up with icing just kills the wholesomeness groove that's going on here. Really, they are good plain.
UPDATE: I have made these cookies multiple times over the years and the dough can be a little tricky. Sometimes it's too dry, sometimes it's too sticky. For best results, mix all the ingredients except for the flour, then add the flour ½ cup at a time, holding back a few tablespoons if the dough seems too dry. If the dough seems too sticky, use more flour. In the original KA recipe they give a weight of 8 oz of flour for 2 cups of whole wheat flour. In my experience, 2 cups of whole wheat flour weighs 9 or 10 oz. I normally recommend using weights, but for this recipe it's best to go by how the dough feels.
Recipe
Whole Wheat Cut Out Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter 6 oz, softened (170 grams)
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 175 grams
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder.
- 1 ¾ to 2 cups traditional whole wheat flour 230 grams
Instructions
- Beat the butter, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl, then add the orange juice, vanilla and baking powder.
- Add flour one half cup at a time, stirring until it is a thick dough. If your dough seems to be getting too dry as you add the flour, hold back a couple of tablespoons. If you weighed out 8 oz/230 grams), you should end up using it all.
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces, wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
- Roll each section into a 14 inch circle, cut out into shapes and bake at 350 for 14 minutes.
- Yield will vary depending on the size of your cutters, but if you use small cutters you'll get at least 5 dozen.
Tamsyn
This was really yummy! It is my new favorite edible play dough for my kids. The cookies turned out well too, but the dough is really sticky, so use lots of flour. Thanks for sharing this!
Marjeta
I tried this recipe yesterday, and the dough was crumbly and it was falling apart. What did I do wrong?
steph bachman
Worms! Ha - we are listening to "How to Eat Fried Worms" on the i-pod right now. We are hoping that it will inspire our kiddo to eat something - anything.
Therese
Worms....too funny. Whew I was relieved as I read your blog that there wasn't a pinworm pandemic at school.
This recipe looks great! I will have to put that cookbook on my x-mas wish list.
Thanks for sharing such great recipes with us!!
Erika
Lol about the worms! Have you read "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin with Fuzz? It's more funny for Mom and kids when they're young, but my kids love that book.