3… 2… 1… Here I DOUGH!

And so my learning project begins! My focus this week was to find the perfect sugar cookie recipe. To help with this, I used Pinterest. It was a little overwhelming at first because there were so many recipes to choose from and each one had very persuasive titles – “the ONLY sugar cookie recipe you need”, THE BEST sugar cookies”, “NO-FAIL sugar cookies”, and so on. Luckily, Pinterest has a helpful section underneath each pin that allows individuals to share their results and leave reviews. With the help of these reviews and pictures, as well as the comments on the recipes themselves, I decided to go with Owlbbaking’s (Liz) Perfect Sugar Cookie Cut Outs. In her post above the recipe, she states that this recipe will give me cookies with crisp, well-defined edges that will not spread. In my first learning project post, I stated myself that this is one of the main characteristics I was looking for in a cookie recipe.

Making the Dough: 

To get started, I measured out all my ingredients (tell me I am not the only one who finds satisfaction in seeing measured out ingredients). Then, I put it all together, which you can see in the quick video below. The recipe was super easy to follow and only required seven ingredients! The only thing I did differently was that I chilled the dough in the fridge overnight. As stated above, I read the comments underneath the recipe and there were a few people who suggested chilling the dough before baking to ensure that the cookies hold their shape. 

Rolling, Cutting, and Baking:

After letting the dough chill for around 24 hours, it was finally time to bake. Liz stated in the comment section that this dough can be kept frozen for up to 3 months, so I’ve decided that I will be splitting the dough and baking small batches of it throughout this learning project. That way I won’t have to keep making several batches of dough… or force myself and my family to eat several hundred cookies. 

The dough was completely solid when I took it out of the fridge, so I let it sit out at room temperature before rolling it out. Once it was soft and manageable, I rolled it out using my little fondant roller. I decided to make flowers as I thought it would be the perfect way to try out several different piping techniques. As I rolled the dough, it began cracking. I believe this was because I was putting too much pressure. I am used to putting lots of pressure because when I am using a rolling pin, it’s usually to roll out fondant or bread dough – not cookie dough (I usually use an ice cream scoop when working with cookie dough, however this was a cut-out cookie recipe). I quickly learned that less pressure is better. Finally, it was time to bake. Since my cookies were small this time, I only baked them for 10 minutes. Something I will do differently next time is to roll the dough out a little thicker – I made them a little too thin. I will also try stacking two baking sheets on top of each other to prevent the bottoms of the cookies from browning too much (this is a tip that I learned from Crave Cupcakes). Overall, I was pleased with how they turned out! The cookies held their shape and they are delicious (so soft and buttery). I am glad that I didn’t have to struggle by having to test out different recipes. These ones turned out great!

Stay tuned to see how my icing turns out! (Last time I worked with royal icing, it didn’t go so well… hoping for the best this time around!)