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A tin filled with holiday cookies.

5-in-1 Master Cookie Recipe

This batch of dough, with a few tweaks, will yield 5 different cookies. Perfect for your tin of holiday cookies.
4.20 from 20 votes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 8 minutes
Chilling 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 8 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 40
Calories 136 kcal

Equipment

  • oven

Ingredients
  

  • 1 C. butter at room temperature
  • 1 C. superfine sugar To make superfine sugar, pulse granulated sugar in food processor for 30 seconds.
  • 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
  • 1 egg yolk large
  • 1 egg large
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

Jam Cookies

  • 5 tsp. strawberry jam use any jam you like

Spiced Cookies

  • 1/2 tsp. molasses
  • pinch of cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. ginger powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. turbinado sugar any chunky sugar will work

Cut-Out Cookies

  • 2 tsp. nonpareil sprinkles

Double Chocolate Cookies

  • 1 tbsp. cocoa powder either Dutch-processed or natural or a combination of both
  • 1/3 C. chocolate chips

Peanut Butter Cookies

  • 2 tbsp. smooth peanut butter

Instructions
 

Master Dough

  • In a large bowl use a hand mixer to cream together the butter, salt, and sugar until light and fluffy. 3-5 minutes.
  • Add one egg yolk and mix well.
  • Add one whole egg and vanilla and mix well.
  • On low speed add the flour in a couple of batches or use your hands to work the mixture into a dough.
  • Divide the dough into 5 equal parts. Add the add-ins of your choice.
  • Wrap the dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Baking

  • Preheat oven to 375˚F/190˚C for 6-8 minutes.
  • Cool for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Notes

This recipe was inspired by The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker. 

Nutrition

Calories: 136kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 2gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 72mgPotassium: 32mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 160IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg
Keyword butter, Chocolate, cookies, dessert, gift giving, Holiday
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