RECIPES

CookieXchange's Sugar Cookie Dough

  ***if you use recipes like I normally do, STOP... read everything about this recipe before you try these cookies, there are a few steps and time involved in the process to these cookies, please be prepared and ready for room in your fridge and time in your pocket :) 

4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted fresh sweet cream butter at room temperature
      *if all you have or can find is salted, just omit the salt from my recipe)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs at room temperature (do not leave out for more than 4 hours)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
5 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
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I do not use any leavening agents...I do not beat or whip the dickens out of my butter or egg additions. This dough must be mixed at a minimum and loved the to the fullest if you want beautiful cookies!

   I use a stand mixer but any mixer (including your hand and elbow) will suffice! I use a paddle attachment on my kitchen aide and start with room temperature butter and the 2 cups of sugar just until combined (scrapping the sides down at least once).Once combined (not beaten) I crack one egg at a time into a clear bowl (I like to examine the entire egg), I don't want any surprises in my dough and I certainly don't wish to start the batch over again!). I add each egg one at a time just until combined then I add my extracts (I use PURE extracts, BUT there is no harm to use the imitation, and it is a bit cheaper!)
   Now onto the flour, I do NOT add all the flour in at once. I actually add 3 cups of the flour 1 cup at a time and scrape the bowl down after each addition, once my 3 cups are incorporated I add the remaining 2 cups of flour.You want to give the flour a chance to absorb the moisture, this will allow for best combining and less need for BEATING. There is that hideous word again!
   The purpose to treating this dough like a lady is to eliminate the want and need for the dough to rise from air pockets in the oven, we want the cookies to stay in the exact same shape and color when baking is complete. WHY? Because we will be decorating this beauties...there is nothing like a nice flat, bubble free cookie to decorate.
    Did I mention these kind are the soft thick cookie with a bit of chew? There are different kinds of cookie lovers, I happen to love a chew in all cookies that I eat.
   Now I have to admit you either LOVE sugar cookies or you don't, and in my case I DON'T.... BUT after alternating the recipe and baking times I have come up with a sugar cookie hater friendly cookie (say that 5 times fast!) that I LOVE, it is now a fetish trying to decorate and design new cookies and shapes that can hold up in a shipment AND be gone is less than 5 seconds in a little kid's hand!

ONTO the rolling!
  Now most recipes will advise to cover the dough at this point and chill it for at least an hour then take it out cover your kitchen in flour and roll it and then chill again...
    I say the heck with extra steps, flour and additional time being wasted! Instead I always tear about 8 sheets of wax paper and divide the dough into 4 portions (trying to handle it as little as possible) and slap those dough balls onto the wax paper and sandwich that wax paper right onto the top of the dough.
   ROLL it out! This is where I take out all my aggressions... JUST KIDDING, we are still dealing with a lady here!  Don't get crazy rolling this dough, we still want a nice thick and EVEN cookie! I roll my dough a little less than 1/4 of an inch literally! I make these cookies to ship, so I especially roll these that thick ALMOST just for that purpose, the other reason is it develops a soft chew!
  REFRIGERATE
    Once you have rolled each 4 pieces stack them together onto a cookie sheet and put them either in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or pop them in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
  Once the dough has firmed up you want to prep your cookie sheets. I always bake my cookies one sheet at a time because of the oven I was put on this earth to deal with. If your oven keeps up with you then rock on with 2 sheets at a time and if your LUCKY to have a double oven or more than one oven in the house, I hate you!  No, no.... just kidding, you are a lucky sole though : ) ....
PARCHMENT
    I always line my cookie sheets with parchment, I think it discourages the cookie not to brown unlike aluminum might do...
CUT THOSE COOKIES
    after you have lined the sheets with parchment you must cut the cookies out and arrange them onto the sheet... not too close together, but since they will not grow too much from lack of air beaten into the dough or the missing baking soda they will rise no more, well not much more.. so don't get them too close. Now here is the daunting task, BACK into the chiller, cooler, fridge, freezer... whatever it is you use (it could be outside for you cold state peeps) they need to be nice and cold.
   I always pop them back into the freezer for good measure since the dough sort of hangs out while I am nicely cutting and placing, they will get warm again.
SO when they are nice and cold once again and in their designated shapes, i place them into a preheated 325 degree oven for at least 9 minutes. Now depending on how large your cookie is will determine the time BUT I ALWAYS start with 9 minutes (even with my tiny cookies), they are after all THICK.
   So this is the crucial time where you don't want to walk away and give the kids a bath, or start/finish the laundry... I always make sure to have a timer in the kitchen and then I set my timer on my phone on JUST in case!
The thing to look for at this point is the shine to go away. The cookies will start to glisten in the oven at the halfway mark because of all that butter... at 9 minutes the cookies should start to dull up a bit... if they are completely dull or show any slight browning on the bottoms they are done! If they are still glistening or dark in the middle, they are still raw and need more time. I always set my timer to an additional 1:30 minutes and I dont go far!
Once they are shine free and have the tiniest tanning on the bottoms I remove them and set them out to cool. At this point the cookies are very fragile, once they cool they will harden and be easier to handle IF you need do. I always bake and decorate on the same pan, only because I carry 8 aluminum half sheet trays in my arson! If needed, these could be covered in plastic wrap and stored on the counter for a day. Or the dough and baked cookie can freeze VERY but beware if they are delicate shapes, store them in a container so no one bumps them ;)
So there it is, your very first lesson on cookie dough and baking these particular beauties, these are very time consuming and there are a lot of steps, but they are truly rewarding for a party or as a gift!

Icing tips and techniques to come ;) 
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XOXO

OVEN TIME
    turn your oven onto 325 degrees (yes it's low).