The White House's Executive Chef Shares His Holiday Cookie Recipe. Thaddeus DuBois, executive pastry chef for the White House gave "Good Morning America's" weekend edition one of his favorite holiday recipes.
White House Sugar Cookies
Makes about 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on size of cutters)
Cookie Dough Ingredients:
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter, soft, unsalted
2 large eggs
1 tsp. of vanilla
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp. of salt
2 tsp. of baking powder
Icing Ingredients
2 egg whites (from large eggs)
4-6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. lemon juice
liquid food color, as desired
Method -- Cookie Dough:
1. Combine sugar and butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes with an electric mixer and paddle attachment.
2. Add eggs and vanilla and blend.
3. Sift flour, salt and baking powder and add. Mix until a dough forms.
4. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least two hours or overnight before using.
5. Roll on a lightly floured surface to 1/4" thick. Cut out desired Chirstmas shapes like, bells, santas, snowmen, stars, candy canes and etc.
6. Place cookies on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper or grease baking tray if no paper is avaliable.
7. Baking: Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Baking times depend on the oven. Rotate baking tray halfway through the baking time. Do not over-bake or cookies will get too hard. These cookies should be soft.
8. Let cookies cool completely before decorating.
Method -- Icing:
1. Place egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer.
2. Sift powdered sugar. Gradually add sugar as mixer is running on low speed. May require a little more or less sugar depending on size of egg whites used.
3. Add lemon juice and vanilla and blend well.
4. Divide icing into small bowls and color as desired.
5. Decorate cookies as you wish.
Note: For a quick way to decorate cookies without using the icing, brush cookies with a slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle cookies with colored sugar(s) before baking.