There is no such thing as a simple sugar cookie, unless you use a mix. And there are some excellent ones out there. Krusteaz makes a divine mix. Just add a quarter cup of water, and off you go.
Baked from scratch sugar cookies are the devil's own work. So it's not you. Honest. **grins**
I know you said you're not trying again. But if you do decide to try again, the Rich Rolled Sugar Cookies recipe from The Joy of Cooking works really well for me.
More important that recipe, though, is rolling technique. Here's what I do:
I take a ball of dough with the footprint of maybe a softball. I put it between two sheets of waxed paper and roll it to about a quarter inch thick. I then set the waxed paper-cookiedough sandwich on a cookie sheet and put it in a fridge. Repeat until there is no dough left. It's important to try to keep the dough to a similar overall thickness; cookies thinner than the others or with thinner segments will burn.
When it is quite chilled (at least 30-40 mins) I take one section out. I use cookie cutters with simple forms which only do the outline. I have no luck with cutters with long protruding sections or the kind that imprint a shape. When you cut out a cookie move it right to a clean cookie sheet. When they start getting difficult to move, the dough is too soft and needs to go back in the fridge for a while. Re-roll when you must, and then put it away and work on another segment.
I could teach you how to make perfect sugar cookies in an afternoon in person. Not sure about online, but it's worth a try. Sugar cookies don't need to be so evil. It's the waxed paper that tames them. The "use a lot of flour to prevent sticking" rolling method is terrible because you end up with super-floured tough cookies.
I saw that you were baking them on parchment paper. I've never tried that, but then again I only half-watched that Alton Brown cookie episode. So maybe you're already rolling out your dough between sheets of something.
In that case, if the consistency and not the stickiness is the problem, try this: instead of just beating the flour and stuff into the dough, knead it in. I always end up with an excess of dry substance that I'm trying to meld with the dough, and it works best to do it by hand with clean hands on a clean counter.
I'd be happy to take a crack at any other specific cookie questions.. I just spent the last couple of weeks doing nothing but various holiday goodies in my spare time.
I recommend slice and bake. That or drop oatmeal cookies. Everything else, I fuck up. Which is funny since I can do cakes and pies. Cookies, not so much.
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What kind were you attempting? I'm about to try some oatmeal-walnut-raisin cookies, myself. In the next day or so.
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Alton would be so disapointed in me :(
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Baked from scratch sugar cookies are the devil's own work. So it's not you. Honest. **grins**
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Meg
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More important that recipe, though, is rolling technique. Here's what I do:
I take a ball of dough with the footprint of maybe a softball. I put it between two sheets of waxed paper and roll it to about a quarter inch thick. I then set the waxed paper-cookiedough sandwich on a cookie sheet and put it in a fridge. Repeat until there is no dough left. It's important to try to keep the dough to a similar overall thickness; cookies thinner than the others or with thinner segments will burn.
When it is quite chilled (at least 30-40 mins) I take one section out. I use cookie cutters with simple forms which only do the outline. I have no luck with cutters with long protruding sections or the kind that imprint a shape. When you cut out a cookie move it right to a clean cookie sheet. When they start getting difficult to move, the dough is too soft and needs to go back in the fridge for a while. Re-roll when you must, and then put it away and work on another segment.
I could teach you how to make perfect sugar cookies in an afternoon in person. Not sure about online, but it's worth a try. Sugar cookies don't need to be so evil. It's the waxed paper that tames them. The "use a lot of flour to prevent sticking" rolling method is terrible because you end up with super-floured tough cookies.
I saw that you were baking them on parchment paper. I've never tried that, but then again I only half-watched that Alton Brown cookie episode. So maybe you're already rolling out your dough between sheets of something.
In that case, if the consistency and not the stickiness is the problem, try this: instead of just beating the flour and stuff into the dough, knead it in. I always end up with an excess of dry substance that I'm trying to meld with the dough, and it works best to do it by hand with clean hands on a clean counter.
I'd be happy to take a crack at any other specific cookie questions.. I just spent the last couple of weeks doing nothing but various holiday goodies in my spare time.
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