Directions

• Allow all your ingredients to come to room temperature, take out any cold ingredients approximately 30-340 minutes out from the fridge to make sure they have time to come down to room temperature.
• Add in room temperature butter and cream cheese to your mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until both combine and become a bit lighter in color, approximately 3 minutes.
• Stop your mixer, scrape the sides of the bowl and add in granulated sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla, mix on medium speed until these ingredients combine, approximately 3 minutes.
• Your mixture should be light, airy, and fluffy. Scrape the bowl one more time and add in Master Elite Red Rose Powder Food coloring, a little goes a long way with colors from The Sugar Art, so I like to start with 1/4 tsp and allow the color to develop before adding more color in. Mix on low speed and make sure to scrape the bowl in between to make sure all the color is mixed in very well.
• Stop the mixer, dry scrape the mixing bowl and add in dry ingredients; cocoa powder, corn starch, salt, baking powder, and mix on low speed to incorporate all ingredients, the color red should appear deeper due to the addition of the cocoa powder.
• After 3 minutes of mixing, stop the mixer and add in the flour, I add all the flour in one time, but you can also add in a little at a time mixing in between. When all the flour is added in, mix on low speed for 3 minutes, your dough will appear grainy or sandy at first, but will slowly incorporate. After 3-5 minutes your dough will no longer stick to the sides of your bowl and it will also not stick to the touch.
• At this point you can freeze your dough for later use, I like to roll it flat and store it using freezer wrap and ziplock bags, or your can also store in the refrigerator for later use.
• To use the dough immediately; preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a piece off parchment paper down on your work surface and sprinkle it with confectioners sugar, place your dough on the powdered work surface, and place a second piece of parchment paper over the dough. Use a rolling pin with guides to help you roll out a more uniform dough. Once the dough is rolled to your liking you can begin to cut. Prior to cutting, dip your cookie cutters into powdered sugar, this will help to prevent sticking specially when using very intricate cutters.
• Once all your shapes are cut, remove the excess dough gently and place it back into your mixing bowl. Now use an angled spatula to help you remove the cut shapes. You can help yourself by dipping the spatula into powdered sugar and gently wiggling the spatula under the cut shapes, do this step gently to help preserve the shape of the cookie. Place your cookies into a lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
• And enjoy! you can also freeze already baked cookies or place them in the refrigerator for later use.