½poundplus 4 tablespoons2½ sticks butter, cut into pieces and kept very cold
1teaspoonvanilla extract
½teaspooneach color gel food coloring: redorange, yellow, green, violet (I like Wilton brand)
Instructions
Combine 2 cups of the flour with the baking powder, salt and sugars in a food processor, and pulse
briefly to mix.
Add the cold butter in pieces; process with short bursts until the mixture has a crumbly consistency.
Add the vanilla extract and process in 3second pulses until a dough ball forms.
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Add one portion of dough to the bowl of a stand mixer (with paddle attachment) and tint with the red food color. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and mix to combine. The dough should not be sticky and resemble the consistency of soft play-doh. Add more flour if needed. Repeat process with remaining dough pieces, food color and flour.
Roll out each portion of dough between sheets of waxed paper or parchment paper to form a rectangle, to about 1/8 inch thickness.
Peel off the top sheet of wax paper from the red piece of dough.
Using the wax paper, lift the orange dough and flip it over onto the red dough so they are stacked. Gently press the two dough pieces together and remove the top layer of waxed paper.
Continue to stack the dough pieces on top of each other. The order should be red, orange, yellow, green, blue and lastly, the violet dough. When the dough is stacked, flip it over on a large piece of waxed paper, so that the red dough is facing upward, and roll it thinner, to about 1/4-inch thickness.
Remove the top sheet of wax paper and trim the edges of the dough square.
Roll the dough along the longest side like a jelly roll.
Gently curl the edge with your fingertips so you don’t get any air pockets as you roll the dough into a
log. While rolling the dough, the violet portion (which will be on the outside of the roll) may want to
tear; pinch tears together as they happen and keep rolling. It’s okay if a few tears remain; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
After forming the dough into a log, dispose of the wax paper.
Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to slice, about 3 hours.
Note: Cookie dough can be frozen for up to 2 months. Defrost in the refrigerator until soft enough to
slice.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Slice the dough into ¼ inch thick cookies, cutting carefully and bake on parchment lined baking sheets for 12 to 15 minutes.
When done, cookies should be slightly puffed and no longer be shiny on top.
Notes
I often skip refrigeration and opt for a chill in the freezer. The cookies slice more cleanly when slightly frozen.
Keyword butter cookie dough, decorated sugar cookies, slice and bake