Variations on Sugar Cookies

Before getting to the cookies, I want to pass along a few things I have learned about freezing food.  There's a difference between short-term and long-term freezing.  In the short term, such as the brief stay baked goods have in the Treat Drawer, a good freezer-quality plastic bag will do just fine.  I like the ones with zippers, for convenience, but the Ziploc type are probably a little more airtight.  For a week or even two, these will preserve the quality of most baked goods.  Towards the end of two weeks, you will begin to notice some dryness, which can be improved by putting a piece of paper towel over it when microwaving.

Now for the more complicated, longer-term freezing.  Buried at the back in Rose Beranbaum's Heavenly Cakes I discovered that most plastic wrap is not really airtight, that, in fact, there are tiny holes in it for "breathing."  This apparently was changed several years ago.  It's important because if you put a cake layer in the freezer, for example, you want there to be water crystals forming inside the cake which will make it more moist, but you don't want the outer layer to dry out.  Typical plastic wrap will lead to such drying.  Luckily, there is a professional-level plastic wrap, Freeze-Tite, that does not have these holes in it and it's stronger (available through Amazon or  King Arthur Flour).  I use it for most baking purposes, such as covering yeasted dough or cinnamon rolls while they rise, and since it's 15" wide, it will stretch across most pans and bowls.  I also use it to freeze dinner leftovers in individual portions (making my own TV dinners for us to eat later). I wrap it first in Freeze-Tite, then give it a second layer of aluminum foil where I write what it is and the date with a Sharpie.  Double-wrapping is critical to preserving foods for the long haul.

When I go to the trouble to make some components of recipes, such as Fennel Sausage or Chinese Barbecued Pork, I will make a large amount.   There's some labor involved, so I figure that if I go ahead and make plenty, I'll have the start of some future meals.  After using what I need for the initial recipe, I portion the rest in 8- or 16-oz portions, wrap them in Freeze-Tite, and then put them in a freezer-quality plastic bag, again writing on it what it is and when it went into the freezer.  I know it sounds like alot of work (all that wrapping, bagging, and writing), but before I did that I would have things languishing in the freezer, eventually getting thrown away because I could no longer remember what it was or how old it was.

Now, on to the cookies.  What I love about these cookies is how soft and light they are.  Partly, that's because I don't overbake them.  Then I freeze them, and we eat them frozen.  If you like them crisper, just cook them a little longer.

Oh, I'd better talk about the flour in these cookies a bit.  The original recipe called for 2 cups of flour, which was clearly not enough.  They spread all over the pan.  So I gradually increased it to 2 1/4 cups, but that is during the winter, when the air is dry.  When I made the ones I took pictures of here, it was a very humid day, and the dough sucked up the flour, which made the sugar cookies spread more than I would like them to.  So when I made the lemon cookies, I increased it to 2 1/2 cups and it was just right.  

What I would suggest is that you start out with 2 1/4 cups and see what you think.  Your goal is to have a cookie dough that is still fairly soft because you are going to refrigerate it (causing the butter to re-solidify somewhat).  If the dough is too soft, the cookies will spread more, which will yield a crisper cookie.  You can look at the photos to compare the sugar cookies, which spread more and are thinner with the lemon cookies, which are much more what I was aiming for.  No worries, though, because they'll taste delicious no matter what.

GIANT SUGAR COOKIES

1/2 cup (4 oz or 1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup (4 oz) canola oil

1/2 cup Superfine granulated sugar

1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons Penzey's double vanilla

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups King Arthur's All-Purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Sparkling sugar for sprinkling

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium sized bowl, and set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter in a large bowl on medium speed about 1 minute.  One ingredient at a time, add the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, confectioner's sugar, egg, and vanilla, beating on medium speed after each addition until completely incorporated.  Add the flour mixture all at once and mix on low until incorporated.  Dough will be soft.  Refrigerate about 1 hour to make it easier to handle.  Or freeze for 30 minutes.  You may want to re-refrigerate between batches.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  

Using a standard-size ice cream scoop (about 1/4 cup), drop the dough on the prepared baking sheets.  

 The cookies should be spaced 2 inches apart, so I usually get 6 to a sheet.  Press the dough evenly with the palm of your hand to flatten the cookies to 1/4-inch thickness.  

Sprinkle generously with Sparkling sugar.

Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges turn golden.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets at least 10 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely.  Makes 12 cookies.

You can also make them in a smaller size (for smaller hands) by using a regular cookie scoop and decreasing the baking time to 8 to 10 minutes.  They will be crisper and less soft in the middle than the giant ones.  The consensus among the locals is that the large cookie is clearly superior.

A word about cookie scoops.  They always have a number on them, either on the back of the handle or on the little thingy that ejects the dough.  The number represents the number of scoops needed to equal 1 quart (32 oz).  For example, my standard scoop for chocolate chip cookies is a #40, which is around 5/8 oz.  And the ice cream scoop is a #16, which is 2 oz or 1/4 cup, and the one I prefer for this recipe is #20, which is about 1.75oz.  It's not science, so whatever you have on hand is fine.

CHOCOLATE DIPPED:  

Follow sugar cookie recipe, except omit the Sparkling sugar.  When they are cool, move them to a piece of waxed paper large enough to hold them.  Melt bittersweet or semisweet chocolate in a bowl that will allow you to dip the cookies into it about 1/4 of the way.  You will have to melt more chocolate than you will use, but you could spoon the leftovers over ice cream.  Then you just dip them, like this:

And put them on the waxed paper.  Transfer them to the freezer on a half-sheet pan for about 20 minutes, and the chocolate will firm up, and you'll be able to lift them off the waxed paper.  You can eat them right away, or move them to a freezer bag.  

LEMON VARIATION:

1/2 cup (4 oz or 1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup (4 oz) canola oil

1/2 cup Superfine granulated sugar

1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon lemon oil

Finely grated zest of one lemon (preferably Meyer)

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups King Arthur's All-Purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Lemon Glaze:  1 1/2 cups Confectioner's sugar, 1/2 teaspoon lemon oil, finely grated zest of one lemon, and enough lemon juice to make a spreadable but not too thin glaze or frosting.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium sized bowl, and set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter in a large bowl on medium speed about 1 minute.  One ingredient at a time, add the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, confectioner's sugar, egg, lemon oil and lemon zest, beating on medium speed after each addition until completely incorporated.  Add the flour mixture all at once and mix on low until incorporated.  Dough will be soft.  Refrigerate about 1 hour to make it easier to handle.  Or freeze for 30 minutes.  You may want to re-refrigerate between batches.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  

Using a standard-size ice cream scoop (about 1/4 cup), drop the dough on the prepared baking sheets.  The cookies should be spaced 2 inches apart, so I usually get 6 to a sheet.  Press the dough evenly with the palm of your hand to flatten the cookies to 1/4-inch thickness.

Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges turn golden.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets at least 10 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely.

Glaze:  Whisk glaze ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.  Place a heaping Tablespoon in the center of each and spread slightly.  Either let them set for several hours, or speed-set them in the freezer before serving or storing.

Makes 12 cookies.

Another little tip:  There's a certain art to taking cookies out of the oven when they are slightly under-done, then letting them sit on the sheets for a few minutes.  If you are using the sheets of parchment, it is then possible to slide the whole thing, paper and cookies onto the counter to cool.  And Voila!  you have a clean cookie sheet and no clean-up.  

However, if you have allowed them to stay in the oven a little longer and you don't want them to keep cooking, you can transfer them to the counter immediately and the coolness of the counter will prevent additional cooking.  Again, this is something that you will learn by trial and error.  And it's the trying (and eating) that makes it fun to learn to do.