Old-Fashioned Cutout Cookies

I sent the complete manuscript to Rachel — eleven chapters, 280 pages, the book that has been growing in the journal and on the kitchen table for two years. I sent it by email, which felt anticlimactic, because a book this personal should be delivered by hand, wrapped in cloth, carried like a baby, but the email went and the attachment went and the 280 pages went into the digital ether and now Rachel is reading them and I am waiting and the waiting is the hardest part, harder than the writing, because the writing was mine and the waiting is shared, the waiting is Rachel's reading and Rachel's thinking and Rachel's decision, and the decision is not mine.

I made pickles — the Jewish dill pickles, Sylvia's recipe, the kirby cucumbers in garlic-dill brine. The pickle-making is the antidote to the waiting, because pickles take time, and the time is deliberate, and the deliberate time of pickle-making is the opposite of the anxious time of manuscript-waiting, and I need the opposite, I need the hands-in-brine, face-in-dill, time-is-on-my-side version of waiting, and the pickles provide it. The pickles sit in their jars. The manuscript sits in Rachel's inbox. Both are fermenting. Both require patience. Both will be ready when they're ready, and the readiness is not mine to control.

The pickles were sealed and in the refrigerator and the manuscript was still in Rachel’s inbox and the waiting had not changed, so I kept going — because the only cure for anxious waiting is more deliberate doing, more hands-in-dough, more flour on the counter, more small careful shapes cut from something that started as nothing. These old-fashioned cutout cookies are Sylvia’s kind of recipe: plain, patient, requiring a rolling pin and a steady hand and no shortcuts. You can’t rush the dough chilling or the cutting or the cooling, and that is exactly the point.

Prep Time: 25 min (plus 1 hour chilling) | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 1 hour 35 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whole milk
Additional granulated sugar or colored sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla extract and milk. Mix until fully combined.
Combine dough. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
Chill the dough. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight. The dough must be cold to cut cleanly.
Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll and cut. On a lightly floured surface, roll one dough disk to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with floured cookie cutters. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Re-roll scraps once.
Bake. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are just set and the bottoms are very lightly golden. The tops should look barely done — they firm as they cool. Do not overbake.
Cool completely. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before storing or frosting.

Nutrition (per serving)

Old-Fashioned Cutout Cookies — The Patient Art of Waiting for Something to Be Ready