Black and White Cutouts

From the Great American Cookie Cookbook. (Publications International Lid., Lincoln, IL, 2001)

I used these as sugar cookie cutouts this year, because I like the way the cream cheese gives them depth. They are meant to be dipped into chocolate. I did both

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 1/2 teapoon of vanilla
3 cups of all purpose flour

Combine butter, sugar, cream cheese, egg and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add flour, beat until well mixed. Refrigerate dough at least two hours.

Roll out dough to 1 1/4 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into whatever shape you please Bake for about 7 minutes or until lightly brown on the bottom. Cool completely.

Tip: I always use parchment paper to cool cookies on. I hate the metal cooling racks, the cookies fall through those and break. I don't cook the cookies on parchment paper. I just use really good cookie sheets.

If you care to dip into chocolate, melt your favorite chocolate with a bit of canola oil. Freeze cookies before dipping, which ensures they don't break. Dip about 1/3 of cookie into the chocolate and lay to dry on parchment paper on cookie sheet. Put in freezer to set the chocolate faster.

I plan to frost most of the cookies. For frosting I use milk and confectioner's sugar and food coloring to a not pastey not drippy mixture. I paint them with a new paintbrush (small one found at hardware store) and then let dry for serveral hours.