Ingredients
- 4 c. all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- 4 sticks cold sweet cream salted butter, cubed
- 1¼ c. sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- Americolor™ food coloring drops: deep pink #114 (2), orange #113 (2), lemon yellow #107 (2), mint green #112 (2), sky blue #103 (3), and violet #122 (3)
Directions
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla in a food processor. It’s very thick so every once in a while you may need to remove the lid and break up the butter to get it moving along.
Once it has fully blended and is smooth then gradually add the flour mixture. Process until combined or it’s not moving around well. Remove dough from processor to a large bowl and mix with a large spoon until all the butter is stirred in.
Divide it by putting about ¾-1 c. of the dough into six smaller bowls. Add 2 drops of the food coloring to each, except add 3 for the blue and purple bowls. (The dough gets darker as it bakes so don’t overdo the drops.) Mix with a small metal spoon until the color is worked through.
Roll into a ball and then flatten a little. Put inside a plastic zip bag and refrigerate about 30 minutes.
Take the dough out to soften and rework it into a ball.
Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll each dough out individually on a well-floured surface to ¼” thickness. Lightly flour the top of the dough to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin
Cut shapes out by pressing down on the bottom of the cutter. (I made: pink bunny, orange butterfly, yellow chick, green egg, blue bunny, and purple butterfly.) Gently jiggle it to separate it from the other dough. (If it doesn’t lift easily your surface isn’t floured enough.)
Lift it up in the cutter to put it on a baking sheet. Check for excess flour on the bottom and brush that off or tap the side of the cutter on your counter. On the baking sheet, press down the plunger to emboss it. Lift the cutter up and press the plunger again to release the dough from the cutter.
Place them 2” apart on the baking sheet. Brush any flour off the back of the remaining dough and then reroll and cut it. Repeat with the other colors.
If a dough gets too soft to work with put it back in the fridge to chill while you work with another color. The cutter can be floured also. Clean your tools between colors.
Bake 8 minutes. Let cool. Makes about 4 dozen.