White velvet cutout cookies

I saw this recipe floating around during the holidays, and knew I had to try it. This recipe was originally a gluten recipe, but with changing the flour it become perfect!! These cookies were a huge hit! Not only did I love them (and I am pretty picky), but so did all of the gluten-eaters that I gave them to. They disappeared quickly! We did this on xmas eve and decorated them with frosting, green and red M&Ms, shredded coconut and sprinkles.

With Valentine's Day here in less than a week, these are great to cutout as hearts and decorate with your kids, or just for a loved one. We decorated ours with red frosting and red and pink glitter sprinkles. We also made some butterflies and flowers.

We will definitely make this recipe a tradition for years to come!

I think the secret is the cream cheese, it creates such a rich flavor that becomes downright addicting. This will make A LOT of cookies, so you may want to do only half if you don't want to be tempted and eat a dozen in one sitting, or feed the entire neighborhood.

recipe:

2 cups butter, softened
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened (use the bar, not the whipped kind)
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-1/2 cups GF flour mix (I use Whole Food's 365 GF All Purpose Baking Mix)

- In a mixing bowl cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy

- Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour.

- Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm.

- Roll out onto a floured surface to 1/4" thickness. I rolled mine between two sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap. Because this makes such a large amount of batter, you may want to keep what you are not rolling in the fridge to keep cool until you are ready to roll.

- Cut with cookie cutters.

- Place on cookie sheets about 1" apart, these should not have much spread.

- Bake at 350'F for 10 minutes or until set (barely browned...these will mostly
still look white).

- Cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then place on wire rack.

And decorate!

For the frosting, I did a simple buttercream frosting:

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 tablespoons milk

food coloring as desired

- Combine 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of milk in a bowl and blend until smooth.

- Gradually add the remaining sugar and blend until light and fluffy. Add the remaining milk if you would like it thinner.

- Separate into different bowls for different colors of frosting, and add food coloring.

Enjoy!