How do you make sugar cookies?

Question

crunchy sweet good and surgary

Answer 1

1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup shortening or butter*
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Early in the day or the day before:
In a large bowl cream the shortening and the sugar. Add the eggs, extract, and milk. In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients with a wire whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl. Mix with mixer until well combined. With hands, shape dough into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Roll** half or 1/3 dough at a time, keep the rest refrigerated. For crisp cookies, roll dough, paper thin. For softer cookies, roll 1/8 " to 1/4" thick. With floured cookie cutter, cut into shapes. Re-roll trimmings and cut.

Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheets. Decorate*** Bake 8 minutes or until very light brown. With pancake turner, remove cookies to racks; cool. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

*I've found that if you want "sturdy and tasty" cookies you should use 1/2 shortening and 1/2 butter. Shortening makes cookies sturdy and butter makes them tasty.

** Rolling Hints: Sue B. says: " Roll the dough out BEFORE chilling and then chill. I roll out my sugar cookie dough right after it is mixed up between 2 sheets of waxed paper, place it on to a flat baking sheet and put it in the fridge. Continue until all the dough is rolled out, stacking the dough sheets on top of the first one. You will go through a lot of waxed paper, but the convenience is worth it for me. When you're ready to cut them out, take out one sheet at a time, peel off the top waxed paper, lightly rub some flour onto the dough, replace the waxed paper and flip the dough sheet over. Peel off the now top sheet of waxed paper and you're ready to cut out your cookies. Collect the dough scraps in a plastic baggie so they don't dry out, re-roll when you have enough for a large sheet. I reuse some of the waxed paper sheets for re-rolling the scraps. A couple tips..... If the waxed paper slips on the counter while rolling, wipe the counter with a damp cloth. And while rolling the dough, sometimes the bottom waxed paper wrinkles, flip over the dough and waxed paper, release waxed paper and re-roll. This method of rolling out cookie dough has been a real time and mess saver for me." ShadoeRose says: "I have found that it is difficult to roll if attempting to do so immediately after taking out of the refrigerator. Take a portion of the dough out and put the rest back in the refrigerator as you don't want the dough to get to room temperature. Let the piece you are working with, warm slightly but keeping beneath room temperature. Experiment with different lengths of time of warming until you find the temperature you find the easiest to work with."

***To decorate with colored sugars: Prepare cookies by brushing with heavy cream or an egg white slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of water. Sprinkle with decorative toppings.

***To decorate with food colors: Mix 1 egg yolk and 1/4 teaspoon water. Divide mixture among several custard cups. Tint each with different food color to make bright colors. (If paint thickens while standing, stir in a few drops of water.) Paint designs on cookies with small paint brushes





you could go to http://baking.about.com/cs/rolledcookies/a/sugar_3.htm

Answer 2

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup granulated sugar for decoration
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the creamed mixture. Cover and chill for at least two hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the dough into two parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of the dough out to 3/16 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle cookies with plain or colored granulated sugar.
Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Answer 3

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup granulated sugar for decoration
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the creamed mixture. Cover and chill for at least two hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the dough into two parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of the dough out to 3/16 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle cookies with plain or colored granulated sugar.
Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Answer 4

On the icing try making enough to put in a small saucer and turn the cookie upside down so the top is coated evenly in the saucer witht icing. Also get anicing bag or gun and have some fun but I would recommend downloading some cute designs from google and copy them. There are so many and they are such good ideas/Have fun and Merry Christmas

Answer 5

Envelope Cookies

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
Candied Filling (see below)
Semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat in the flour on low speed. Divide dough into fourths. Cover; chill about 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll a portion of the dough into a 10x6-inch rectangle. Using a fluted pastry wheel or a sharp knife, cut dough into 15 2-inch squares. Place squares 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling onto center of each square. Brush one corner of dough with water. Fold opposite corner over filling. Fold brushed corner over first corner; press gently to seal. If desired, press one semisweet chocolate piece into the top of the overlapped corners.

4. Repeat with remaining dough, filling, and chocolate pieces. Bake as directed. Makes 60 envelopes.

Candied Filling: In a small mixing bowl, combine an 8-ounce package cream cheese or reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened, and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir in 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces or almond brickle pieces. Makes about 1-1/2 cups.

To Store: Layer between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Answer 6

it's best to bake cookies from the box....it always comes out good

Answer 7

buyy a bucket/box of the dough and p0p it into the oven !!! thats what my mom does .. they come out really good ! a good brand is ... Pillsbury .. hehehe byee