Sugar Cookie recipe and tips

After my recent sugar cookie post, I told C.L. Hanson that I would give her tips on sugar cookie baking. I've had other people ask me about it before, and truth be told, this is my one real talent, so here goes.

This recipe gets full credit from Betty crocker. However, I've been using this recipe for so long, I really understand how it works and how to make it work.

For starters, this is a 3 day process for me. I make the dough one day, roll and cut them out the next day, then frost on the third. This is usually because I at least double, often triple the recipe. It is soooo yummy, I have to accomodate everyone. This recipe is so great because it doesn't have any nasty aftertaste, and it's not too sweet.

The recipe:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. In large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, the butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, almond extract and egg until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
2. Heat oven to 375°F. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured, cloth covered surface, roll each half of dough 3/16 inch thick. Cut into assorted shapes with cookie cutters, or cut around patterns traced from storybook illustrations. If cookies are to be hung as decorations, make a hole in each 1/4 inch from top with end of plastic straw. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

The tricks I use:

Lots of flour. I only use the amount required for the recipe, but when I get ready to roll and cut, I put a fresh layer on the counter or table, I sprinkle some on the mound of cookie dough, then I make sure the rolling pin has plenty as well. I keep the flour container handy and am constantly dipping into it.

When I roll the dough out, I leave it somewhat thick. If it's too thin, it'll fall apart and burn easily. It's okay to make less cookies than the recipe says it will. This is quality, not quantity.

I use a pampered chef baking stone. This gets the cookies evenly baked, without the burnt or crisp edges. This also makes them soooooo soft and they practically melt in your mouth. The first batch will always take longer to cook because the stone isn't heated yet, but I cut down the time by a minute or two after that.

I don't use complicated shape patterns. Hearts are perfect because they're very simple and easy to scrape up and out. I also don't mind pumpkins, christmas trees, stars, easter eggs, etc. When you get into tricky things like bats (the animal, not baseball), candy canes, flowers with stems etc., the dough doesn't stay together well and the cookies come out looking warped, not to mention they're more difficult to frost.

As for frosting, I use the Wilton buttercream recipe. I took a cake decorating class a couple of years ago where I learned this recipe, and it is delicious!

1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk**
1 pinch of salt

Except I use 1 TBS of meringue powder, water instead of milk, and clear butter flavoring instead of clear vanilla. (All Wilton brand products!). Also, I only use white shortening, in order to get the coloring I want. You can add more water to lessen the thickness of the recipe. For sugar cookie decorating, the consistency should be medium. Thickness is for things like roses on cakes, and thin consistency is what frosts a cake without getting crumbs in the icing.

Boring post. Any questions?