Stamped Butter Cookies (recipe 2)

Stamped Butter Cookies - made January 16, 2021 from Beyond the Butter

Another recipe as I am still on the hunt for the one that will keep the impression from an embossed rolling pin.

Speaking of embossed rolling pins, I have to confess, after Bennett gave me the first one, I went and bought four more from etsy. Told you it was the start of an obsession. Although to be fair, I bought one as a gift for a friend just so I could try to get someone else obsessed with them. So I'm not the only one with a new freak flag.

One of the three I kept for myself is this stars one pictured above. I wanted something with a patriotic flavor (very punny, right?) for the cookies I send in military care packages as a volunteer with Soldiers Angels. Cool, eh?

And because I saw it from the same Etsy seller that I got the stars rolling pin from, I also bought this Disney one. I thought it was cute and would be fun to cut out into Mickey-Mouse shapes.

Technically, I don't have a Mickey-Mouse-shaped cookie cutter but details....

These didn't quite turn out as well as I had hoped though. It might be hard to see in the pictures but that's indicative as, in real life, the imprints weren't as clear either. At least not as clearly defined as the one from the embossed rolling pin Bennett gave me.

Evenly more sadly, as you can see below, this recipe didn't hold up well with keeping the impressions either. That could be partly my fault in that I didn't roll the dough thinly enough or bake the cookies long enough. I'm also learning the depth of the imprints from the rolling pin matters. I liked the stars embossing but the Disney one just didn't have enough depth or dimension. 

This recipe made so much dough that I did try it out with my new cookie stamps as well and, in fairness to the recipe, it did better with larger patterns. So I guess this isn't one to use for small patterns that have more detail as the finer details will bake out but with larger patterns, it holds its own decently well.

The flavor on these cookies was good but the hunt continues for a butter or shortbread recipe that holds the impressions and doesn't spread during baking.

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing briefly after each addition until combine. Add vanilla and mix until just combined.
3. Add dry ingredients in three additions, mixing briefly after each addition. Mix until no flour streaks remain; do not overbeat.
4. Divide dough in half and place each half on a large piece of parchment paper. Cover with another piece of parchment and roll each piece into a smooth and even thickness, 1/8 - 1/4" thick.
5. Chill in refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
6. Once chilled, remove from refrigerator and remove top piece of parchment. Dust lightly with flour and roll embossed rolling pin, imprinting the dough. Cut into desired shapes, cover and chill again briefly, 15-20 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space chilled cookies. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove from oven, let rest on cookie sheets for 2-3 minutes then remove to wire rack to cool completely.