Greetings good people, today is a good day, and do you know why its a good day? Because I have conquered the Sugar Cookie. Thats right, that pain in the butt that everyone eats in every holiday movie ever I can now bake to perfection. Those of you who have never tried to bake sugar cookies might scoff and say "How is that a big deal?"
I will make you a bet. After this paragraph stop reading and go make some. If they are easy to make, come out looking perfect, and actually taste good then congratulations, you are a genius and I don't think we can be friends.
Now off you go.
To the rest of my people read on and I will share my hard won secrets so you too can impress one and all this Christmas.
Secret # 1. superfine sugar/baking sugar
Some of you might know what this is, for those who don't, it's a really fine granulated sugar but not powdered sugar. You can get it at your local grocery store. This cookie is very delicate and the fine sugar keeps it texture that way too.
Secret # 2. Cream Cheese
Not a lot, only 2 tablespoons but it makes the cookie workable with out getting tough. It also helps give a creamy texture with out making the dough too fluid.
Secret # 3. Reverse Creaming
This is the very most important part, DO NOT SKIP. Normally you cream the butter and sugar together and add the dry ingredients but in reverse creaming you mix the dry ingredients and add the butter in half inch chunks. It might seem silly but it matters. It helps prevent bubbles in your very flat very thin cookies.
What follows is the cookie recipe I uses, the cookies come out tasting a bit like short bread which, I think, is a plus. Happy baking.
Makes: about 3 dozen cookies
Time: Longer than you think, a few hours at least
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1/4 tsp salt
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter,
cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened
2 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
Mix flour, sugar, and salt together in large bowl/mixer. Beat butter into flour mixture one piece at a time at low speed. Make sure butter is totally incorporated and then add cream cheese and vanilla. Mix until dough begins to form a large clump, about 30 seconds, then stop. Do not over beat.
Knead dough into one cohesive mass. Divided into 2 and pat into two 4in disks. Wrap in cellophane and refrigerate for 30 min.
Put oven rack in middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper, about 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate rolled dough for 10-15 min before removing the parchment and cutting out shapes. It will make your life much easer if you make sure your dough is always cold before working with it. Also I like to have a small medal spatula or frosting spatula around to help lift the cut out cookies.
P.S. Make sure if you are using different shapes that they are the same size otherwise you might over bake or under bake a certain shape.
Put cookies on baking sheet about 1in apart. Bake cookies until you just start to see light brown on the edges. That about 7 min when I do it but you have to test it for yourself, there are lots of factors to consider with sugar cookies. How big is the cookie cutter shape, how thick is the cookie, how hot dose your oven really get? I suggest doing a few practice rounds.
Let cookies cool on sheet for about 1-2 min before putting on the cooling rack. Get a glass of milk or a cup of tea and enjoy
If you want to frost cookies...
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s/ powdered sugar
Whisk 2 Tbsp milk and all the cream cheese together until smooth. Add in sugar and mix until smooth, adding the remaining milk as needed until the glaze is thin enough to spread with ease. Add food coloring for, what else, color.
Let me know if you have any questions :)
