Cookie Cutter Ideas

EDIT: Oops! I came back to check out other people's ideas and noticed your request said "Sugar cookies can only go so far." LOL! Oh well, maybe someone else can use this idea! :)

I LOVED making Better Homes and Garden Painted Sugar Cookies as a child and plan on making it a tradition w/ my daughter when she is old enough. They're sugar cookies that you "paint" with an egg yolk/food coloring mixture. Here's the recipe:

Cream together:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter

Add:
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract

Then add dry ingredients:
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Refrigerate dough 2-3 hours or more.

Roll out approx 3/16" thick and cut out into shapes with cookie cutters.

Paint with egg yolk paint (1 egg yolk + 1/4 tsp water + a few drops of food coloring) - we would always use cupcake pans and divide the yolk into six to make blue, green, yellow, red, orange, and brown. We also liked to add fun things like sprinkles for "lights" on X-Mas trees and red hots for Rudolph's nose, etc.

Bake 7-8 minutes.

You could make cinnamon ornaments. Here is the recipe:

1 cup applesauce
1 cup cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cloves

Mix ingredients together. Roll out on cinnamon covered board. You may need to add more applesauce- you don't want the mixture to be crumbly. Cut with cookie cutters. :)

Bake in a 200 degree oven for 20 minutes to get the drying process started. Use a straw to make a hole at the top for hanging when they come out of the oven. Turn the ornaments frequently over 4-5 days or until completely dry.

Over the years, as the ornaments lose their scent, rub them with a fine grained sand paper to get the scent back.

pizza dough is fun because it comes pre-made and you can make little pizzas out of them too. have fun!

How about brownies? Those would be fun to use snowman cutters, and frost with white icing & decorate.

I love the phillsbary pre made dough. The gingerbread mix is great for cookie cutters. Kraft foods online may have more ideas.