Saturday, June 19, 2010

Most Frustrating Sugar Cookie Recipe Ever!

Last night, a little before midnight, I decided to make sugar cookies for the hubby.  Sugar cookies are among his favorites and I was itching to bake something.  I decided to go with "Ultimate iced sugar cutouts" from 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & other Tempting Treats (edited by Susanna Tee).  Sadly this book isn't offered on my beloved Amazon.com.  I made up the dough in a flash and stashed it in the fridge for its 1 hour chill.  That didn't seem long enough but it's what the recipe said.  Had I been more awake I might also have realized how loose the dough was.  It was closer to a batter than a dough.  The recipe calls for:

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
cup superfine sugar (I assumed that the lack of a number meant one level cup)
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
scant 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Looking back at it of course I realize that this is not near enough flour to compensate for all the liquid but last night I was tired.  When I went to roll out the dough it stuck to the counter, even though it was generously floured, and to the rolling pin.  Lifting them wasn't even an option, they just rolled up into clumps of goo.  I added A LOT of flour so that the dough just barely stuck to my fingers and threw it into the freezer for 10 minutes.  So much better but still not quite there.  I added a little more flour and then popped the dough back into the freezer for 5 more minutes.  Success!  After much fussing around with it I finally had successful sugar cookies.  I guess I've been spoiled by Rose Levy Beranbaum and Peter Reinhart who give me weights as well as measurements and tell me exactly what consistency I should see.  Anyways, here are the sugar cookies.


The cookies are all the same except for the toppings.  The green is almond flavored, the yellow is orange flavored and the yellow with green sugar is straight icing with nothing added.

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