Roll dough scraps up just once to avoid toughening cookies. This is a free sample recipe of our Quick-Smart™ premium recipe collection. The complete Premium Collection is available by subscription only.
INGREDIENTS (for 8 servings):
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter at cool room temperature
- 1 cup superfine sugar (or granulated sugar, processed to fine texture in a food processor)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 whole egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
- Decorating Glaze (optional)
PREPARATION:
Cream butter, sugar and salt with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add yolk, beat well, then add whole egg and vanilla; continue beating until well incorporated. Add flour and beat on low speed until flour is just mixed. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or double-wrapped and frozen for up to 1 month.)
Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove one disk of dough from refrigerator and cut in half. Return unused portion to refrigerator. Lightly flour work surface; roll dough to 1/8 inch thick, using a spatula to loosen dough and lightly sprinkling work surface with flour as needed. Using a cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes. Place 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheets. Or form dough into balls, using about 1 tablespoon for each, and flatten with a greased bottom of a glass, dipped in flour from time to time.
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through baking, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Use a thin-bladed spatula to transfer them immediately to a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature. Repeat rolling, cutting and baking with remaining dough. Decorate cooled cookies, if desired, and transfer to an airtight container where they can be stored for up to 3 weeks.
Note:If you like thicker style sugar cookies, feel free to roll the dough 1/4 or even 1/3 inch thick. Remember to increase the baking time by 5 to 10 minutes as well.
Variations:Butterscotch Cookies:Follow recipe for All-Purpose Butter cookies, substituting 1 cup packed light brown sugar for superfine sugar.
Coconut Cookies:Follow recipe for All-Purpose Butter Cookies, stirring 1 cup toasted, flaked, sweetened coconut into finished dough.
Peanut Butter Cookies:Follow recipe for All-Purpose Butter Cookies, creaming 2/3 cup peanut butter with butter and sugar in step 1.
Article:Just Right Rolled Cookies'The Perfect Recipe' by Pam Anderson. Copyright© 1998 by Pam Anderson. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.