TASTE
Gather family for sugar cookie fun
| • | Wally's world |
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
Today's sugar cookie recipe is a composite of a number of recipes we've tried, most notably the mega-tested recipe from "The New Best Recipes" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen, 2004). The editors there came up with the idea of using a small amount of brown sugar to give the cookie enhanced flavor. The use of just one egg and flattening the cookies well make for a crisp cookie. If you prefer a more cake-like texture, use 2 eggs and a little less enthusiasm in flattening the cookies.
This cookie can be made three ways: chilled, rolled and cut; portioned out and smashed with a sugar-coated glass; chilled and sliced as for "refrigerator" cookies.
In these rainy and humid days, it's tough to keep cookies crisp. For best results, flatten them well, cool them completely on a rack, place them in a paper-lined air-tight container (lidded tins work better than plastic) and serve them as soon as possible.
If you use cooking parchment to line the baking pans, no need to grease pans. Otherwise, use an oil cooking spray or a light coating of shortening.
Although you can make these cookies with margarine, it is butter that gives them their chief character, yielding that rich, nutty flavor.
This cookie lends itself to all manner of variations and would make an enjoyable baking day for a group of mixed ages: Get the kids and grandparents together. Make a double batch. Divide up the dough and put everyone into teams to create their own variation.
ALL-PURPOSE SUGAR COOKIES
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in a bowl using a hand-held mixer, cream butter, gradually add sugars and then egg; continue creaming until light and lemon-colored. In a separate small bowl or cup measure, combine vanilla and 1/2 cup milk, reserving 1/4 cup more milk to use if needed. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Begin adding flour and milk mixture to butter-sugar-egg mixture, alternating between dry and liquid ingredients. The resulting dough should be a thick, smooth, pliable paste; if it's dry and crumbly, add the remaining milk.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour (or until solid, if you plan to cut the cookies into slices).
Shaping cookies:
Bake at 375 degrees about 7 to 9 minutes, until golden and firm. Allow sheets to cool completely between batches. Makes about 60 (2 1/2-inch) cookies.
SUGAR COOKIE VARIATIONS
Dress them up: Colored glaze or icing may be used to paint these plain sugar cookies.
Chips and chunks: Add 3/4 cup chocolate chips, buttermilk morsels or white chocolate morsels to dough.
Go nutty: Add 3/4 cup chopped, toasted nuts and substitute appropriate extract as desired (i.e. almond extract with slivered almonds). Or add 3/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut (watch these ones carefully; the sugar content makes them brown quickly).
Butterscotch Christmas cookies: Substitute eggnog for milk, add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and stir 3/4 cup crushed butterscotch hard candy into dough. Make a glaze of 1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar and enough eggnog to create a cream-textured liquid. Place baked cookies on a rack, cool and drizzle with glaze.
Spices: Add holiday spices to the dough — nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom— for a total of 1 1/2 teaspoons. If you like, 2 tablespoons of very finely minced candied ginger may be added. Or equivalent minced candied peel or fruit.
Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.
