HOW TO MAKE SUGAR COOKIES
Bake and decorate these festive cookies with confidence. Alison Roman shows you the basics.
Provided by Alison Roman
Number Of Ingredients 0
Steps:
- For the best cookies, getting the proper thickness is key. Too thin, and the cookies will turn into crackers. Too thick, and they'll be doughy. Here are tips to help you roll the dough to just the right depth, and to cut cookies that will give you a world of decorating options.• First, make some space. Rolling out dough takes up a bit of space, so clear off those countertops before you begin. • Use parchment paper for rolling for best results (though a well-floured work surface will also work). To roll out the dough, you'll want to lightly dust a large piece of parchment paper with flour. Roll out the dough until it starts to stick a bit to the parchment, then lightly dust the top of the dough with a bit more flour and cover it with another piece of parchment. Flip the whole thing over, peeling off the bottom piece (and saving it so you can repeat this process). • Keep an eye on the thickness of the dough. You want it to be about the thickness of a graham cracker, or, if you have a ruler handy, no thinner than an eighth of an inch. Don't worry about making it a perfect circle or rectangle. • Cold is best. Regardless of the shape you're cutting out, or the method you're using (by hand, with a cutter, glass jar), you'll want the dough to be chilled. If it gets too warm and flimsy, it'll be challenging to cut out clean shapes and move. Put the dough back into the fridge to firm up if it starts to soften. • A cute cutter does not always make a cute cookie. No matter how appealing the wide range of cutters may be, there are some that don't actually make great cookies. In particular, avoid shapes with small, delicate features. Those smaller parts of dough are doomed to tragedy: getting stuck in the cutters, burning before the rest of the cookie is baked through, or just breaking off. And they're challenging to decorate. • Broad cookies make better canvases. Shapes with a lot of surface area (circles, triangles, diamonds, stars) yield the greatest success. They bake more evenly and offer multiple decorating options.• No cookie cutters? A wide-mouth glass jar or cup will do the trick. Or use a knife to cut diamonds (as seen above), squares or rectangles. • Cut as many cookies as you can. When it's time to cut, dip the cutters in flour to prevent sticking, and cut the shapes as close to one another as possible to maximize your dough. • But don't go too far. Gather any scraps and reroll the dough, but no more than twice. After that, the dough will become overworked and tough.
- The pristine white finish of royal icing is particularly elegant, and striking in its simplicity. But everything is a little more fun in color. Tint it with food coloring, use it like glue for sprinkles and dragées, or paint it directly onto hardened icing.For colored icing, make a batch of white royal icing, and divide it into smaller bowls. (One batch can yield up to three different colors.) Using a spoon or fork, mix in food coloring until you reach your desired shade. Cover with plastic wrap, with the cling film pressed directly on the surface, until you're ready to use it. For deep hues, you'll need more food coloring than you think. Depending on the intensity, it's possible to use half a bottle. Keep in mind that traditional food coloring contains a lot of liquid, so adding enough for that vibrant red can alter the viscosity of the icing. To preserve the consistency, add little to no water when making the icing, using the food coloring as the thinning liquid. Gel food coloring can be a game changer here. (Betty Crocker makes some, but they are also widely available on Amazon.com and at professional baking stores.) The color is more concentrated, and it contains virtually no liquid. So a little will go a long way, and adding a lot won't affect the viscosity. To apply icing, you can use any large reusable or disposable pastry bag (at least 10 inches long), with a small metal tip for precision. A tip with a round 1/16-inch opening is best for more detailed designs, but for most purposes, one with a standard 1/8 inch opening will serve you well. If you're a once-a-year baker, a resealable plastic bag with a small (1/16-inch) hole cut out of the corner will do the trick. To ensure all the icing gets in (and not on) the bag, insert the bag, tip facing down, into a tall glass, and fold the top down over the glass. Alternatively, hold the bag with your less-dominant hand, and fold the top over your fingers. Spoon the icing into the bag, filling it about halfway. Be careful not to overfill the pastry bag, or the icing will spill out of the top. Pull up the top of the bag, and twist it where the icing meets the bag to close it off.
- Here are the techniques that elevate a simple sugar cookie to the spectacular. Piping and flooding can take a little practice, so take your time and consider making double batch of icing. And remember: extra sprinkles and dragées conceal all flaws.You can use the icing bag like a pen to draw lines, swirls or any other designs that are as simple or complex as you like. To pipe, hold the tip of the bag 1/4 inch above the cookie and about 1/8-inch away from the edge. The icing should be runny enough that you should not need to apply too much pressure, but it may be useful to practice on a plate or piece of parchment paper beforehand. If there are air bubbles in the pastry bag, a few gaps in the line could appear when you are piping. You can always quickly fill them in - just make sure to do so before the icing sets. To create a smooth, evenly frosted appearance, you'll want to "flood," or fill, the surface of the cookie with icing. While a pristine white coating can be striking in its simplicity, fresh icing can serve as a glue for sprinkles, edible glitter or colorful sugars. Alternatively, it can be left to dry until hardened and used as a canvas for painting. To begin flooding, trace the outline of the cookie you're decorating. This will serve as a sort of barrier: Think of this as a line you're going to color inside of. With the pastry bag, start on the outside and work inward, filling in the space as you go. The icing should spread a bit to fill in any gaps. If you spill a little over the side of the cookie, use a paper towel to clean the edges before the icing sets, which can happen rather quickly. For a more rustic (and kid-friendly) appearance, you can always forego the pastry bag and spoon icing directly onto the cookie. Dollop some in the center, and using the back of spoon, spread the icing out to the edges, almost as if you're saucing a small pizza.For a more modern, slightly neater approach to colorful decorations, try painting directly onto the surface of an iced cookie. No fancy skills required: If you've ever painted anything, you can paint a cookie. Pick up some edible glitter or luster dust from a professional baking store. Mix a small amount of the glitter or luster dust with a neutral spirit like vodka until it reaches the consistency of watercolor paint. Dip a small paintbrush into the mixture and paint directly onto a flooded cookie using swift, one-stroke motions. Start with something simple like stripes or dots, then graduate to more complex designs.
- If piping an intricate design falls outside your wheelhouse, there are other options that are equally festive. Sprinkles and dragées provide all the holiday cheer you can imagine, while a simple dusting of sugar or cocoa is a lovely, low-maintenance possibility.Once cookies are decorated, they can be kept in an airtight container between layers of parchment (as padding and protection) for up to three days. Sprinkles and Dragées Sprinkles can be applied to raw dough before baking or used on just-iced cookies. Dragées, or oversize sprinkles that look like beads, can be applied only onto fresh icing. Decorative Sugars Sprinkling cookie dough with sanding sugar before baking is a great way to add color and crunch. It's coarser than regular granulated sugar, and won't melt once baked. Pearl sugar (which resembles pretzel salt) or Demerara sugar (similar in flavor to brown sugar, but with larger crystals) can also be used before baking, or sprinkled onto fresh icing. Chocolate Dip baked cookies in melted chocolate (no need to temper it), then sprinkle them with flaky salt, sprinkles or chopped toasted nuts before storing them in the fridge. Cocoa and Powdered Sugar Dusting baked cookies with powdered sugar or cocoa powder (or both) can be a less-is-more approach, and great for any last-minute decorating needs.
- These recipes are all basic variations on the master sugar cookie dough. With a few adjustments, you can get wildly different (and delicious) results.Lightly spiced, jam-filled linzer cookies (a smaller version of the classic linzer torte) are a traditional sandwich cookie with a tender texture and subtle nutty flavor that comes from finely ground almonds in the dough. As with sugar cookies, which benefit from the addition of frosting, the dough for a linzer does not need to be too sweet: It's filled with a tangy raspberry jam and finished with plenty of powdered sugar. A hole in the top of the cookie gives the signature stained-glass-window effect, making it one of the most effortless and impressive treats you could make this holiday season. Recipe: Linzer CookiesThe salted cocoa-hazelnut cookies are a classic slice-and-bake cookie, ripe for improvisation. Not into hazelnuts? Pistachios, almonds, even chocolate chunks are great here. Don't worry too much about getting the perfect cylindrical log; the dough should even out most imperfections as it bakes. Recipe: Salted Cocoa-Hazelnut CookiesOur basic dough recipe makes for an excellent spritz cookie. Load a cookie press (think of a caulking machine, but with cookie dough) with dough straight after mixing (no need to chill) and push out a desired shape onto parchment paper. Recipe: Spritz CookiesThink of these ginger-molasses cookies as a cross between a gingerbread man and a chewy molasses cookie. The molasses gives them a softer texture with a decidedly adult, almost caramel flavor. Instead of rolling or slicing these cookies, this rich, soft dough is perfect for rolling into balls and coating in coarse sugar before baking. Recipe: Ginger-Molasses Cookies
SUGAR COOKIES
Everyone needs a good sugar cookie recipe. If you can master the very simple technique behind this one dough, you have several variations at your disposal, most likely without a trip to the grocery store.
Provided by Alison Roman
Categories cookies and bars, dessert
Time 1h30m
Yield 4 1/2 dozen cookies
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium-high until the mixture is light, fluffy and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl, and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, and beat until everything is well combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Add dry ingredients all at once, and mix on low speed just until incorporated.
- Scrape dough out of bowl and divide it in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, patting into a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough, one disk at a time, on lightly floured parchment paper or work surface until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Create shapes, using a lightly floured cookie cutter. (Alternatively, using a knife, cut the dough into squares, rectangles or diamonds.) If at any point the dough becomes too soft to cut and cleanly remove from parchment paper, slide it onto a cookie sheet and chill for a few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator. Gather any dough scraps and combine them into a disk. Roll and repeat the cookie-cutting process, chilling as necessary.
- Place shapes onto parchment-lined baking sheets 1 inch apart and bake until cookie edges are lightly browned with sandy, pale centers, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Cool the cookies on a rack, if you have one. Otherwise, let them cool on the pan. Decorate with a glaze, royal icing, frosting, glitter, food-grade luster dust or whatever you'd like. Don't forget the sprinkles.
SALTED CHOCOLATE CHUNK SHORTBREAD COOKIES
These wildly popular cookies were developed by Alison Roman for her cookbook, "Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes." "I've always found chocolate chip cookies to be deeply flawed (to know this about me explains a lot)," she writes. "Too sweet, too soft, or with too much chocolate, there's a lot of room for improvement, if you ask me. But no one asked me, and rather than do a complete overhaul on the most iconic cookie known to man, I took all my favorite parts and invented something else entirely. Made with lots of salted butter (it has a slightly different flavor and a deeper saltiness than using just salt - I prefer unsalted butter everywhere else but here), the dough has just enough flour to hold it together and the right amount of light brown sugar to suggest a chocolate chip cookie."
Provided by Alison Roman
Categories cookies and bars, dessert
Time 45m
Yield 24 cookies
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, beat the butter, both sugars and vanilla on medium-high till it's super light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes for a stand mixer; 6 to 8 for a hand mixer). Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and, with the mixer on low, slowly add the flour, followed by the chocolate chunks, and mix just to blend. If necessary, knead the dough with your hands to make sure the flour is totally incorporated. At this point, the dough should be smooth and feel like Play-Doh with no pockets of flour.
- Divide the dough in half, placing each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic over so that it covers the dough to protect your hands from getting all sticky. Using your hands, form the dough into a log shape; rolling it on the counter will help you smooth it out, but don't worry about getting it totally perfect. (Don't be afraid to make them compact. Shortbread is supposed to be dense. That's part of why it's so good.) You can also do this using parchment paper, if you prefer, but plastic wrap is easier when it comes to shaping the log. Each half should form a 6-inch log, 2 to 2¼ inches in diameter. Chill until totally firm, about 2 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the outside of the logs with the beaten egg and roll them in the demerara sugar (this is for those really delicious, crisp edges).
- Using a serrated knife, carefully slice each log into ½-inch-thick rounds (if you hit a chocolate chunk, slowly saw back and forth through the chocolate). If the cookies break or fall apart, just press them back together - the dough is very forgiving. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart (they won't spread much). Sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake until the edges are just beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating them all.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 267, UnsaturatedFat 6 grams, Carbohydrate 21 grams, Fat 20 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 2 grams, SaturatedFat 12 grams, Sodium 135 milligrams, Sugar 9 grams, TransFat 1 gram
WHITE SUGAR COOKIES
This is an old-time cookie recipe, that came from my Mom's collection - I'm sure you will enjoy this one and it makes about 6 dozen cookies!! It freezes well also,
Provided by Chef mariajane
Categories Drop Cookies
Time 8m
Yield 6 dozen cookies
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Cream together shortening, sugar and eggs.
- Sift together salt, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and nutmeg.
- Blend together milk, vanilla and lemon,.
- Alternately blend into the creamed mixture the dry ingredients with the milk mixture ending with the milk mixture. Add the walnuts.
- Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 400F 8-10 minutes or until browned.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 1128.7, Fat 51.1, SaturatedFat 11.4, Cholesterol 76.2, Sodium 1274, Carbohydrate 153, Fiber 4.2, Sugar 67.7, Protein 17.2
ALLISON'S SUPREME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Extra rich chocolate chip cookies. These stay soft a long time!
Provided by Maria Allison
Categories Desserts Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
Time 40m
Yield 24
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
- In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and coffee liqueur. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in the oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, and place them 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before eating!
Nutrition Facts : Calories 294.1 calories, Carbohydrate 35.4 g, Cholesterol 25.7 mg, Fat 16.5 g, Fiber 2.1 g, Protein 3.9 g, SaturatedFat 6.5 g, Sodium 186.7 mg, Sugar 21.2 g
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ULTIMATE SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE | BON APPéTIT
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4.2/5 (373)Estimated Reading Time 7 minsServings 24-36Total Time 2 hrs 40 mins
- Whisk salt, baking powder, and 3 cups flour in a small bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until well combined (butter does not need to be fluffy), about 3 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat just to combine. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to combine. Form dough into two ¾"-thick disks; wrap in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours.
- Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 325°. Let 1 disk of dough sit at room temperature until softened slightly, about 5 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper until about ¼" thick, dusting with flour as needed (if dough gets soft or sticky, chill on parchment until firm). Cut out shapes with floured cookie cutters; transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12–16 minutes, depending on size. Transfer to wire racks and let cool. Repeat with scraps and remaining dough.
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