Donna, I posted my Mom's Sugar Cookie recipe and a Shortbread Cookie recipe in the current WFD thread and both would work for what you need.

Make sure you chill the Sugar Cookie dough thoroughly and don't roll the dough out too thin. I usually roll out btw 1/8" - 1/4". The shortbread does not need to be chilled.

The recipes are about 3/4 down the page.

Michelle

Here is a link that might be useful: WFD #251

Here's the one I use....
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 T milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

The recipe maked 3 dozen small cookies...drop cookies.
For roll outs add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more flour....so it will roll out easier.
For cutouts, I omit the baking powder....it makes them "sturdier" and keeps the shape better.
Double the recipe and you should get easily 3 dozen big thick pumpkins out of it...
Oh yes...
Cream sugar and butter, beat in eggs, milk and vanilla and work in the flour baking powder mix...add more flour as needed to make stiff enough to roll. make into 2 flattened rounds and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
bake on parchment 375 for about 8 to 10 minutes.
Linda C

Thank you Michelle and Linda, for posting recipes. I have copied both of them. I usually chill the dough a good 4-6 hours, and then roll on parchment. I try to avoid using extra flour when I roll them, thinking this will keep the cookies more tender. Maybe I should roll them out on a floured surface this time, and see if that helps them to be less fragile.

Linda, I'll leave out the baking powder and see if that makes a differemce.

Thanks again!
DONNA

Donna, you are making pumpkins for 7 year olds.....forget tender....go for sturdy!!
I sometimes roll them out on powdered sugar....but you have to be careful when baking that they don't burn.

Linda,

I had to laugh at your post, DUH!! Why indeed am I worried about tender cookies for 7 year olds???? They will slather frosting and sprinkles all over the pumpkins, and no way will they notice anything other than how messy their faces get when they eat them:-) That being said, I'll leave out the baking powder and roll them thick. I've never tried rolling out cookies on powdered sugar, that might be a solution as well. Thanks as always!
DONNA

I mix powdered sugar and flour 1/2 and 1/2 for rolling out cutout cookies, the cookie tastes better...all powdered sugar could make cookies stick??

Nancy

I have tried lots of recipes for cutout cookies and this is the best one I have found!

NO FAIL SUGAR COOKIES
This recipe is GREAT when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking. Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking these or any other cookies.
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350
degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe
can make up to 5-dozen 3" cookies.
HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to
chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

The cookies rolled out with sugar will stick unless you cook them on parchment....and will burn on the bottom unless you bake on parchment.

Thanks Nancy, for the tip. I'm going to try the powdered sugar mixed with flour. And I always bake these cookies on parchment, so I'll continue to do that. Once I discovered parchment paper, there was no going back to greasing cookie sheets:-) Marigene, I have seen your beautiful cut out cookies before, you are obviously very talented with them. I like that your recipe makes such a large batch, and the hint for rolling them out between sheets of parchment paper then chilling is pure genius! Is that tinted royal icing you use?
DONNA

I'm getting motivated to make some iced cookies from this thread. Marigene, would you mind sharing your icing recipe as well? I love that thick coverage look. Thanks!
Suzy

I really had no recipe for the icing...sort of a royal icing, just mixed powdered sugar, merengue powder and bottled lemon juice to the consistency I wanted. I divided them into little batches and colored them using paste/gel colors. I prefer the pastes, they seem to be brighter. I used a paintbrush for all the large areas and squeeze bottles for the rest. Worked for me, and the two and a half year old thought they were great......what more could I ask!
I am sure if you are good with a pastry bag, you could make some really cool decorated cookies.

Thanks Marigene! I won't be able to use any type of royal icing with these second graders, since they won't wait for it to dry before decorating. But I'll use it for my own cookies which I hope to make for Thanksgiving with my big and little turkey cutters:-)
DONNA

Donna....decorate with colored sugars before baking. It can get messy but you can get shaker bottles and sprinkle the sugar on....and you can make "cookie paint" with either dry milk and food coloring or powdered egg white and food coloring. Apply with a mew child's paint brush.
Linda C

marigene, those are adorable. did you have an insect party for one of your kids? did you use cookie cutters or make templates? just excellent and so bright and colorful. i'm voting that you come to cookie camp if michelle puts it together - another pro for me to learn from.

maryanne

Linda, do you know if the powdered egg white frosting is safe for the kids to decorate with, if they lick their fingers? I have colored sugar (orange and black), plus some ghost and bat sprinkles for them to decorate with. Last year, we just used frosting from a can that one of the moms had tinted orange. We gave them plastic knives to spread the frosting on the baked cookies. It was quite messy, but the sprinkles really stuck, which was a plus for the kids. I don't care for the canned frosting, but couldn't think of a suitable alternative.

Count me in for cookie camp too, Maryanne, I sure can use the help!
DONNA

Marigene,

I used your recipe last night and it was great! Thank you. My youngest has his winter break party today. He came home two days ago and said, "we need sugar cookies for decorating, and I said you could make them." Gotta love the vote of confidence, I guess. Of course he wanted two cookies for everyone, so I did a bunch of rolling last night.

Thanks for posting it!