Vanilla Butter Rollouts

Total Time

Prep: 25 min. + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling

Makes

about 3 dozen

Updated: May. 27, 2022
Even cooks who normally shy away from cut out cookies can make these with confidence. The dough is so easy to work with after a mere 30 minutes of chilling. —Colleen Sickman, Charles City, Iowa
Vanilla Butter Rollouts Recipe photo by Taste of Home

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cups butter, softened
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • FROSTING:
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 tablespoon clear or regular vanilla extract
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons 2% milk
  • Paste food coloring, optional
  • Assorted decorations, optional

Directions

  1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in vanilla and eggs, 1 at a time. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2- to 3-in. cookie cutters. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  3. Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
  4. For frosting, beat together butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to reach desired consistency. If desired, tint with food coloring. Spread or pipe onto cookies; decorate as desired.
Editor's Note: For our Santa's belt cookies, we decorated 2-3/4-in. square cookies using a #18 star tip for the furry trim, black Sixlets for buttons, a #45 basketweave tip for the belt and gold nonpareils for the belt buckle.

Nutrition Facts

1 cookie: 214 calories, 10g fat (6g saturated fat), 36mg cholesterol, 182mg sodium, 29g carbohydrate (18g sugars, 0 fiber), 2g protein.