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Lightened-Up Cut Out Cookies

These Lightened-Up Cut Out Cookies are a healthier take on the holiday classic. You can enjoy decorating cookies with your family without the added guilt or temptation!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Geri

Ingredients

FOR THE COOKIES

  • 1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick), softened to room temperature
  • 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • zest of 1/2 a lemon (about 1/2 tsp)
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

FOR THE ICING

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-3 tsp nonfat milk (I used almond milk)
  • (optional) gel food coloring

Instructions

TO MAKE THE COOKIES

  • Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  • Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until completely smooth. Add in egg, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Continue to whisk until everything is incorporated.
  • Add in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, as you continue to beat the mixture. When all of the flour is added the mixture should be crumbly (see picture above).
  • Form dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  • Cut dough in half. Leave one half in the refrigerator while you roll out the other half on a cutting board. Your dough should be about 1/4 thick (see blog notes).
  • Cut your shapes and carefully move to a cookie sheet greased with cooking spray. Reform scraps, roll out, and continue to cut out cookies until you have 14-15. Repeat process with other half of the dough (or keep in the refrigerator to make another batch later). You should have 28-30 cookies total.
  • Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they look dry on top. Let cool completely.

TO MAKE THE ICING

  • Mix together powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tsp of milk. Add more milk, 1 tsp at a time, until you get a thick, spreadable consistency.
  • Separate into bowls and add food coloring until you reach your desired colors. Ice completely cooled cookies, about 1/2-1 tsp icing per cookie.
  • For the icing to set, let cookies sit for about 5 minutes.

Notes

Click here to determine your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe (if you are logged in to your WW app, it should calculate for you automatically). Calculated per cookie.
WW Green, Blue, and Purple SmartPoints: 3 per cookie