I am a cookie champion. People kill for cookies I've baked. Okay. That's a
slight exaggeration but I've never had a leftover. However . . . my attempts
with cookies that should be rolled out and cut? No success. Are there some
technical tricks or something Moma taught you that I've missed? I do have a
nice slab of marble and I could put it in the freezer for a while if cold
surface would help. Maybe I need a better weapon to slide the cut cookies
to the cookie sheet. I always wind up with what looks like ragged pasta.
What am I missing? Polly

On Nov 30, 8:37*pm, "Polly Esther" > wrote:
> I am a cookie champion. *People kill for cookies I've baked. *Okay. That's a
> slight exaggeration but I've never had a leftover. However . . . my attempts
> with cookies that should be rolled out and cut? No success. Are there some
> technical tricks or something Moma taught you that I've missed? I do have a
> nice slab of marble and I could put it in the freezer for a while if *cold
> surface would help. *Maybe I need a better weapon to slide the cut cookies
> to the cookie sheet. *I always wind up with what looks like ragged pasta.
> What am I missing? *Polly

Keeping your dough cold and using an offset spatula for transporting
from work surface to baking sheet always works for me.

"Polly Esther" > wrote in message
...
>I am a cookie champion. People kill for cookies I've baked. Okay. That's
>a slight exaggeration but I've never had a leftover. However . . . my
>attempts with cookies that should be rolled out and cut? No success. Are
>there some technical tricks or something Moma taught you that I've missed?
>I do have a nice slab of marble and I could put it in the freezer for a
>while if cold surface would help. Maybe I need a better weapon to slide
>the cut cookies to the cookie sheet. I always wind up with what looks like
>ragged pasta. What am I missing? Polly

My mom always made the rolled out cookies. Me? Not so much because they
are a pain but I don't recall having too many problems with them. I did
roll them out on either a pastry cloth if I had one or waxed paper if I
didn't. I have a marble rolling pin that a friend gave me many years ago.
It's very heavy so maybe that's why it worked so well? My mom had a wooden
one that was heavy for a wooden one but it had one handle missing. I never
knew what happened to the handle but I liked to tell people that she hit my
dad over the head with it.

I do know that one thing that you have to do is to chill your dough for at
*least* two hours before rolling out. Better if you can leave the dough
overnight to make sure it is really chilled. And make sure to put your bowl
back in the fridge between rollings to keep the dough cold.

I prefer the really old kind of cutters that they probably don't even make
any more. Metal with a closed top and a knob on them. I just don't really
like the open ones or the ones that are made of plastic. The old style seem
to have a sharper edge to them.

I guess I got lazy in more recent years and when making the rolled cookies,
I just cut them with a knife. It was quicker and I found that people didn't
really seem to care if they were in fancy shapes or not.

But... Since I used to make enough cookies to fill two paper grocery bags
each year, and then some, I preferred to make things that were quicker. I
always made a lot of Spritz because they did look fancy and I could use the
same dough for a variety of things, only varying perhaps the color and
flavor. I did a few kinds of drop cookies and some shaped by hand. I also
used to ship some of the cookies and the rolled ones didn't travel so well.

I once decorated some cookies at a friend's house. I was amazed at her
house for starters. They had one of those old style cabinets in their
kitchen (the name escapes me now) that is freestanding and has a big flour
bin in it. They had a chest freezer and it was full of rolled out sour
cream cookies in a variety of shapes. Some were just for Christmas. Her
mom pulled out lots of the Christmas ones and we set them out on cooling
racks to defrost while we made the frosting. My friend said the freezer was
always full of those cookies. They had them year round and they would
decorate them as needed. I never did get the recipe though.

On Nov 30, 11:37*pm, "Polly Esther" > wrote:
> I am a cookie champion. *People kill for cookies I've baked. *Okay. That's a
> slight exaggeration but I've never had a leftover. However . . . my attempts
> with cookies that should be rolled out and cut? No success. Are there some
> technical tricks or something Moma taught you that I've missed? I do have a
> nice slab of marble and I could put it in the freezer for a while if *cold
> surface would help. *Maybe I need a better weapon to slide the cut cookies
> to the cookie sheet. *I always wind up with what looks like ragged pasta.
> What am I missing? *Polly

It sounds like your dough is getting to warm by the time you're ready
to put the cookies on the cookie sheet. Instead of using a spatula to
transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet, I just pick them up with my
fingers and transfer them. Another thing to try is to roll the dough
directly on to the cookie sheet. You'll have to experiment with how
much of the dough you need to use so it's the proper thickness. Next,
cut out the shapes you want and simply remove the excess dough. You
won't have to worry about getting the cookies on the pan because
they'll already be on the pan. This is a good way to do it if the
shape is intricate and tends to break easily if handled too much.

wrote:
> On Nov 30, 11:37 pm, "Polly Esther" > wrote:
>> I am a cookie champion. People kill for cookies I've baked. Okay.
>> That's a slight exaggeration but I've never had a leftover. However
>> . . . my attempts with cookies that should be rolled out and cut? No
>> success. Are there some technical tricks or something Moma taught
>> you that I've missed? I do have a nice slab of marble and I could
>> put it in the freezer for a while if cold surface would help. Maybe
>> I need a better weapon to slide the cut cookies to the cookie sheet.
>> I always wind up with what looks like ragged pasta. What am I
>> missing? Polly
>
> It sounds like your dough is getting to warm by the time you're ready
> to put the cookies on the cookie sheet. Instead of using a spatula to
> transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet, I just pick them up with my
> fingers and transfer them. Another thing to try is to roll the dough
> directly on to the cookie sheet. You'll have to experiment with how
> much of the dough you need to use so it's the proper thickness. Next,
> cut out the shapes you want and simply remove the excess dough. You
> won't have to worry about getting the cookies on the pan because
> they'll already be on the pan. This is a good way to do it if the
> shape is intricate and tends to break easily if handled too much.

I usually pick them up with my fingers too unless they are super thin. I
made some kind of Moravian "cakes". I want to say they were Scotch cakes
but that might be wrong. At any rate they were made with molasses and
rolled almost paper thin. Then covered with sugar. I discovered that they
had to be cut into very tiny shapes and lifted with a thin spatula or they
would just rip. The end result was soooo good though. They would just melt
on your tongue.

On 12/1/2012 3:01 AM, wrote:
What am I missing? Polly
>
> It sounds like your dough is getting to warm by the time you're ready
> to put the cookies on the cookie sheet. Instead of using a spatula to
> transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet, I just pick them up with my
> fingers and transfer them. Another thing to try is to roll the dough
> directly on to the cookie sheet. You'll have to experiment with how
> much of the dough you need to use so it's the proper thickness. Next,
> cut out the shapes you want and simply remove the excess dough. You
> won't have to worry about getting the cookies on the pan because
> they'll already be on the pan. This is a good way to do it if the
> shape is intricate and tends to break easily if handled too much.
>
I roll the (well-chilled) dough out on parchment paper, then cut and
remove the excess dough. The paper can then easily be transferred to the
baking sheet.

On 12/1/2012 3:01 AM, wrote:
> On Nov 30, 11:37 pm, "Polly Esther" > wrote:
>> I am a cookie champion. People kill for cookies I've baked. Okay. That's a
>> slight exaggeration but I've never had a leftover. However . . . my attempts
>> with cookies that should be rolled out and cut? No success. Are there some
>> technical tricks or something Moma taught you that I've missed? I do have a
>> nice slab of marble and I could put it in the freezer for a while if cold
>> surface would help. Maybe I need a better weapon to slide the cut cookies
>> to the cookie sheet. I always wind up with what looks like ragged pasta.
>> What am I missing? Polly
>
> It sounds like your dough is getting to warm by the time you're ready
> to put the cookies on the cookie sheet. Instead of using a spatula to
> transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet, I just pick them up with my
> fingers and transfer them. Another thing to try is to roll the dough
> directly on to the cookie sheet. You'll have to experiment with how
> much of the dough you need to use so it's the proper thickness. Next,
> cut out the shapes you want and simply remove the excess dough. You
> won't have to worry about getting the cookies on the pan because
> they'll already be on the pan. This is a good way to do it if the
> shape is intricate and tends to break easily if handled too much.
>
That sounds like very sensible advice, and I'm not a cookie baker
Perhaps along with chilling the marble for rolling out the cookies, the
dough should be chilled. But I like your idea of placing the dough
directly on the baking sheet.

Again, I'm not a cookie baker. Still, I do wish my mom had kept the
"holiday" cookie cutters she used to have. There was a cutter for a
turkey shape (not the cooked version, a gobbler with feathers!). A
cookie cutter. Of course Christmas tree, etc. It would be fun if she'd
kept those... then I might think about baking cookies.

Jill

On 12/1/12 9:09 AM, S Viemeister wrote:

> I roll the (well-chilled) dough out on parchment paper, then cut and
> remove the excess dough. The paper can then easily be transferred to the
> baking sheet.


That's what we do too -- the most foolproof method by far.

-- Larry

jmcquown wrote:
>
> Again, I'm not a cookie baker. Still, I do wish my mom had kept the
> "holiday" cookie cutters she used to have. There was a cutter for a
> turkey shape (not the cooked version, a gobbler with feathers!). A
> cookie cutter. Of course Christmas tree, etc. It would be fun if she'd
> kept those... then I might think about baking cookies.

I've still got a big selection of cookie cutters. I used them when I was
"room mother" for my daughter's classes in elementary school. (Grades 3-6)

I haven't made cookies in 20 years, but those plain sugar cookies were kind
of good. I might just make a batch this month....for old times sake, and for
the sake of more worthless food for me to snack on at night. heheh

Gary

I use parchment paper also. I roll one cookie at a time-it's quicker, I
have major space limitations, and I don't make more than two dozen
cookies.

Just pinch off a small piece of !cold! dough, roll it out, apply cookie
cutter, peel away the excess before removing the cutter.

You can then lift up a smaller piece of parchment paper and peel off
with the aid of gravity the shape to lay on your cookie sheet, or bake
it right on the parchment paper.

I have also used flour on the countertop and rolled directly on the
counter but you end up with drier, tougher, grittier cookies.
A retired coworker (mennonite) brings us her rolled cookies each
year-they are fabulous and she uses her mother's sour cream recipe.

I like to use a cream cheese recipe and I like to sink my teeth into a
sugar cookie so I don't like to roll them too thin.

I have Mom's cookie cutters-clear red plastic from the 50's-although
they are a pain to use (tight corners where dough can stick) they do
make the prettiest cookies, with pressed detailing on the tops. Fond
childhood memories-Thanks, Mom!

I have never seen any before but always thought larger square sugar
cookies frosted to look like quilts would be quite beautiful and not
limited to Christmas time. If I had the time and space I would love to
indulge my somewhat geometric artistic sense :-)

I would like to try to stencil on a prefrosted white "canvas." The craft
stores sell tiny little brass stencils with elaborate tiny detailing
that would work quite nicely I think for cookie decorating.

If any of you are true artists, try baking a 10x12 single cookie, and
then "paint" the frosting with food colored thinned-out frosting and
decorate it as a landscape etc. A pretty tray is your frame. A group of
people will ooh and ahh before eating your masterpiece :-)

On 12/1/2012 11:07 AM, z z wrote:
> I use parchment paper also. I roll one cookie at a time-it's quicker, I
> have major space limitations, and I don't make more than two dozen
> cookies.
>
> Just pinch off a small piece of !cold! dough, roll it out, apply cookie
> cutter, peel away the excess before removing the cutter.
>
> You can then lift up a smaller piece of parchment paper and peel off
> with the aid of gravity the shape to lay on your cookie sheet, or bake
> it right on the parchment paper.
>
> I have also used flour on the countertop and rolled directly on the
> counter but you end up with drier, tougher, grittier cookies.
> A retired coworker (mennonite) brings us her rolled cookies each
> year-they are fabulous and she uses her mother's sour cream recipe.
>
> I like to use a cream cheese recipe and I like to sink my teeth into a
> sugar cookie so I don't like to roll them too thin.
>
> I have Mom's cookie cutters-clear red plastic from the 50's-although
> they are a pain to use (tight corners where dough can stick) they do
> make the prettiest cookies, with pressed detailing on the tops. Fond
> childhood memories-Thanks, Mom!
>
> I have never seen any before but always thought larger square sugar
> cookies frosted to look like quilts would be quite beautiful and not
> limited to Christmas time. If I had the time and space I would love to
> indulge my somewhat geometric artistic sense :-)
>
> I would like to try to stencil on a prefrosted white "canvas." The craft
> stores sell tiny little brass stencils with elaborate tiny detailing
> that would work quite nicely I think for cookie decorating.
>
> If any of you are true artists, try baking a 10x12 single cookie, and
> then "paint" the frosting with food colored thinned-out frosting and
> decorate it as a landscape etc. A pretty tray is your frame. A group of
> people will ooh and ahh before eating your masterpiece :-)
>
I may steal some of your ideas...

Steal away :-) Here are some more fun ones.

Scrabble board cookie with piped letters weaving together holiday words.
Or make all the little scrabble tiles also with the letters piped on.
Play scrabble. :-)

A maze cookie.

Frost a giant snowflake.

You could also color some dough and roll bits and pieces on top of
rolled plain dough for some interesting experimentation with a stained
glass look-coat with a very thin hardening style icing for the see-thru
effect.

A giant cookie assembled from small cookies for one of those advent
calendars-eat a cookie each day :-)

Keep 'em coming-Grinches not wanted.

On 12/1/2012 10:49 AM, Gary wrote:
> jmcquown wrote:
>>
>> Again, I'm not a cookie baker. Still, I do wish my mom had kept the
>> "holiday" cookie cutters she used to have. There was a cutter for a
>> turkey shape (not the cooked version, a gobbler with feathers!). A
>> cookie cutter. Of course Christmas tree, etc. It would be fun if she'd
>> kept those... then I might think about baking cookies.
>
> I've still got a big selection of cookie cutters. I used them when I was
> "room mother" for my daughter's classes in elementary school. (Grades 3-6)
>
> I haven't made cookies in 20 years, but those plain sugar cookies were kind
> of good. I might just make a batch this month....for old times sake, and for
> the sake of more worthless food for me to snack on at night. heheh
>
> Gary
>
I think it was probably sugar cookie dough when Mom used the cookie
cutters. After they were baked she also frosted the cookies. I
remember her making butter cream frosting and buying food colouring to
tint the frosting. There were paper cut-outs to place over the frosted
cookies for adding sprinkles in shapes. That was a *long* time ago.

Jill

On 12/1/2012 12:11 PM, z z wrote:
> Steal away :-) Here are some more fun ones.
>
> Scrabble board cookie with piped letters weaving together holiday words.
> Or make all the little scrabble tiles also with the letters piped on.
> Play scrabble. :-)
>
I know a few Scrabble fanatics...

Fret not. At least people can tell they are not machine-made, store-bought cookies when you present them. A pretty plate goes far to dress up a batch.

S Viemeister wrote:
>
> On 12/1/2012 12:11 PM, z z wrote:
> > Steal away :-) Here are some more fun ones.
> >
> > Scrabble board cookie with piped letters weaving together holiday words.
> > Or make all the little scrabble tiles also with the letters piped on.
> > Play scrabble. :-)
> >
> I know a few Scrabble fanatics...

Way back in the early 80's, my first computer was the Commodore Vic20. I
learned programming with that one. One weekend, I decided to see if I could
make a computer version of Scrabble, just for the fun of it. I started on
Friday evening and I finished it about 4am the next morning. It was a good
version, graphics and all. There was no computer game of that at the time.

Well, I wrote to the company that held the copyright to Scrabble....Selchow
and Righter (that spelling is wrong, I'm sure). They wrote me back with,
"Thanks but we already sold the rights to a computer version to (some
software company)." They gave me their address.

So I wrote to the software company to see if they were interested in seeing
what I did. They responded, "Thank you but we already have a team of
programmers working on this game."

A team of programmers working on it? I did this in one long night. WTH?

So anyway, I just accepted defeat but I watched for their game to come out
on the market. About 6 months later, it arrived in the computer stores. I
bought it, tried it, and it wasn't near as good as the version I programmed
in one night. damn!

To this day, I think I should have contacted a copyright lawyer and found a
way around the copyright. Maybe I could have called it "Scramble" instead
of "Scrabble."

Gary

On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:35:36 -0500, Gary > wrote:

> To this day, I think I should have contacted a copyright lawyer and found a
> way around the copyright. Maybe I could have called it "Scramble" instead
> of "Scrabble."

Unfortunately, life is littered with woulda, coulda, shoulda and 20-20
hindsight.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

sf wrote:
>
> On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:35:36 -0500, Gary > wrote:
>
> > To this day, I think I should have contacted a copyright lawyer and found a
> > way around the copyright. Maybe I could have called it "Scramble" instead
> > of "Scrabble."
>
> Unfortunately, life is littered with woulda, coulda, shoulda and 20-20
> hindsight.

LOL! Yeah...."in my next life, "

I love to play scrabble on my Kindle :-)

Wrong day to mention computers to me-they just upgraded us this wk at
work-new computers (flimsiest plastic yet), giant monitors allowing for
split screens (nice), even new mice (unneccesary cost).

In addition to that damned waving banner on my saved Word documents, now
I can no longer have individual one-click direct shortcuts to them (or
to various folders) on my taskbar-they all instantly run and hide inside
bigger ones.

Now I have to keep the shortcuts on my desktop which kind of defeats the
purpose of the new monitors. And I can't switchout the icons to be more
indicative of what the shortcuts lead to like I used to.

Is it any wonder it takes 20 people to do the work it used to take 8
people to do? Every time I come up with a shortcut that helps me, life,
aka Microsoft, comes up with another way to obstruct it.

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 13:56:57 -0600, (z z) wrote:

> I love to play scrabble on my Kindle :-)
>
> Wrong day to mention computers to me-they just upgraded us this wk at
> work-new computers (flimsiest plastic yet), giant monitors allowing for
> split screens (nice), even new mice (unneccesary cost).
>
> In addition to that damned waving banner on my saved Word documents, now
> I can no longer have individual one-click direct shortcuts to them (or
> to various folders) on my taskbar-they all instantly run and hide inside
> bigger ones.

Go to Recent. You'll see your recently accessed documents and folders
there.
>
> Now I have to keep the shortcuts on my desktop which kind of defeats the
> purpose of the new monitors. And I can't switchout the icons to be more
> indicative of what the shortcuts lead to like I used to.

Did you try this?
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/13631...s-7-and-vista/
>
> Is it any wonder it takes 20 people to do the work it used to take 8
> people to do? Every time I come up with a shortcut that helps me, life,
> aka Microsoft, comes up with another way to obstruct it.

Although I have Word set so it saves in 2003 format, I like the rest
of it. You can even put a Quick Access bar under the Ribbon so you
can get to the print button or whatever it is that you use all the
time and want direct access to. I was a happy camper as soon as I
figured that one out. No idea what you were talking about when you
said "waving banner" though. I've never seen that. I especially like
the w7 search function. It's super fast and if it's on my computer,
it will be found with just one or two key words.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Dec 1, 9:09*am, S Viemeister > wrote:
> On 12/1/2012 3:01 AM, wrote:
> What am I missing? *Polly
>
> > It sounds like your dough is getting to warm by the time you're ready
> > to put the cookies on the cookie sheet. *Instead of using a spatula to
> > transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet, I just pick them up with my
> > fingers and transfer them. *Another thing to try is to roll the dough
> > directly on to the cookie sheet. *You'll have to experiment with how
> > much of the dough you need to use so it's the proper thickness. *Next,
> > cut out the shapes you want and simply remove the excess dough. *You
> > won't have to worry about getting the cookies on the pan because
> > they'll already be on the pan. *This is a good way to do it if *the
> > shape is intricate and tends to break easily if handled too much.
>
> I roll the (well-chilled) dough out on parchment paper, then cut and
> remove the excess dough. The paper can then easily be transferred to the
> baking sheet.

I actually almost put that bit of advice in there but I deleted it at
the last moment.

Thanks for the link-I am not the administrator so that is one issue, but
the comment about 7 and unpinning from the taskbar before changing the
icon might help me with a few. In the past I always did the simple right
click/properties/change icon on any icon on the taskbar. I think the
techies hate it when we change out icons because they want uniformity
when they show up to work on multiple computers, but we want
functionality for ourselves.

Recent is same song second verse-when I am on the phone I want one click
and only one click before my document is on screen (without a damned
waving flag)-otherwise I might as well print them out and tape them to
the furniture like everyone else does.

One click or two clicks might sound trivial to some of you but if you
perform these actions a hundred times a day the time adds up.

I minimize the ribbon takes up too much space my eyesight is still 20 20
lol. I customized the ?quick access bar? to add all the command icons I
want (switch to all commands and scroll thru selecting all the ones you
want (including quick print.)

Another new program to deal with is Adobe XI I think it's called-when I
click on rotate I want rotate to hang around for awhile because it
always takes two rotates to get a fax right side up-instead I have to
laboriously go back to the beginning for the second rotate-I haven't
investigated that one further yet to see if there is a workaround.

"Kalmia" > wrote in message
...
>
> Fret not. At least people can tell they are not machine-made,
> store-bought cookies when you present them. A pretty plate goes far to
> dress up a batch.

What's the trick for getting parchment paper to be still on a cookie sheet?
I had a sheet one time to pitch off the cookie sheet into the back of the
oven and it was quite a mess. I realize duct tape and SuperGlue are not
options; did try wooden clothespins one time but they cooked too. No
kidding. I laugh at the expression "I'm not as dumb as I look" but truth be
told - I really do appreciate (and Need) your help. Polly

On Dec 2, 12:23*am, "Polly Esther" > wrote:
> "Kalmia" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > Fret not. *At least people can tell they are not machine-made,
> > store-bought cookies when you present them. *A pretty plate goes far to
> > dress up a batch.
>
> What's the trick for getting parchment paper to be still on a cookie sheet?
> I had a sheet one time to pitch off the cookie sheet into the back of the
> oven and it was quite a mess. I realize duct tape and SuperGlue are not
> options; did try wooden clothespins one time but they cooked too. No
> kidding. *I laugh at the expression "I'm not as dumb as I look" but truth be
> told - I really do appreciate (and Need) your help. *Polly

Just how is the parchment paper sliding off? Are you throwing the
cookie sheets in the oven?

Polly wrote:

>I am a cookie champion. People kill for
> cookies I've baked. Okay. That's a slight
> exaggeration but I've never had a
> leftover. However . . . my attempts with
> cookies that should be rolled out and
> cut? No success. Are there some
> technical tricks or something Moma
> taught you that I've missed? I do have a
> nice slab of marble and I could put it in
> the freezer for a while if cold surface
> would help. Maybe I need a better
> weapon to slide the cut cookies to the
> cookie sheet. I always wind up with
> what looks like ragged pasta. What am I
> missing?

I have two main cut out cookie recipes I have used for years with
perfect results, and call them both No-Fail recipes. The good news is,
neither have to be chilled, and yet the dough handles beautifully. I use
a Tupperware (plastic) pastry sheet, but I don't believe they make them
anymore, so I look for them at yard sales, and my son got me one on eBay
awhile back, as they don't last forever. Honestly though, am sure you
would have no trouble using a pastry board, but just make sure it's
floured well, and also is easier to cut the shapes perfectly and execute
the dough from them, if dip the cutter into flour.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter (I use salted)
1/2 cup margarine (I use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten well
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt (I cut in half)
4 tsp. baking powder
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. milk

I beat the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid mixer, so first I beat the eggs
up in the bowl, and add the butter, margarine and sugar and mix
thoroughly. Add vanilla and milk and beat in, and I beat in half the
flour (low speed) and add remaining flour with baking powder and salt
and mix just till a soft dough forms. DO NOT CHILL. I roll out about a
quarter of the dough at a time, to about 1/8 inch thick (I generally
like them a little thicker) and cut with cutters. The scraps of dough
re-roll out nicely without making the cookies "tough". Bake on ungreased
sheets at 400º about 8 minutes, till brown around the edges. I'm
strange, but I like mine a little over-done, as think the flavor is
better, and are not as soft. I only bake about a dozen cookies at one
time on each sheet, as they spread out. If you frost these with a
butter frosting and put the "sprinkles" on the top, they will store
better, but I still put wax paper, or plastic wrap between the layers,
so don't stick together. When I make the frosting, I like it with a
little almond AND vanilla flavorings in it, but suit your own taste.
Depending on the size of the cutter, I get around 30-34 cookies per
batch. This dough recipe doubles well too.
NOTE: Be sure and use butter AND margarine both, and not all butter, or
the texture will be different if you don't.

This is another tried 'n' true recipe from a Taste Of Home magazine 17
years ago.

Deluxe Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter (I use salted, as I do for all my baking, unless it calls
for unsalted)
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond
2-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Beat together in electric mixer bowl, the butter, sugar, egg and
extracts. Add half the flour and mix in on low. Add remaining flour,
soda and cream of tartar and beat on low just till blended into a smooth
dough. Roll out a quarter of the dough at a time on a floured surface
(they say to use powdered sugar instead of flour, but I never have).
Roll to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes with cutters.
(re-roll the scraps of dough, till all is used up). Place on ungreased
sheets. Bake at 350º until edges begin to brown, about 8 minutes, or
so. Can sprinkle with colored sugar before baking, but I like also to
frost them with a vanilla butter icing, tinted with different colors and
put the colored "sprinkles" on the frosting before it dries. Makes about
3-1/2 dozen.

Good Luck!
Judy

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 23:23:09 -0600 in rec.food.cooking, "Polly
Esther" > wrote,
>
>What's the trick for getting parchment paper to be still on a cookie sheet?

Hold the sheet horizontal and take advantage of "gravity."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity

In article >,
"Polly Esther" > wrote:

> I am a cookie champion. People kill for cookies I've baked. Okay. That's a
> slight exaggeration but I've never had a leftover. However . . . my attempts
> with cookies that should be rolled out and cut? No success. Are there some
> technical tricks or something Moma taught you that I've missed? I do have a
> nice slab of marble and I could put it in the freezer for a while if cold
> surface would help. Maybe I need a better weapon to slide the cut cookies
> to the cookie sheet. I always wind up with what looks like ragged pasta.
> What am I missing? Polly

A good recipe?
A pastry cloth and a stockinette-covered rolling pin can be helpful.
--
Barb,
http://www.barbschaller.com, as of August 20, 2012