In case there's some interest, this is the recipe I adapted for the anise cut-out cookies.
In case there's some interest, this is the recipe I adapted for the anise cut-out cookies. My mom has an ancient first edition copy of Betty Crocker's Cooky [sic] Book from whence it comes. (It was published in 1963.) The specific recipe is called "Ethel's Sugar Cookies".
This is the original recipe but I did as noted below.
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp lemon flavoring or 1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavoring thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together; blend in. Chill at least 1 hr.
Heat oven to 400 degrees (mod. hot). Roll dough 1/8" thick on lightly floured board. Cut with 3" cooky [sic] cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6 to 8 min., or until cookies are a delicate golden color. Makes about 4 doz. cookies.
Note:Do not use Gold Medal Self-Rising Flour in this recipe.
I made the following changes when I made it. First, I used butter at room temp (so softened but not mush) rather than shortening. Second, I used 1/4 tsp. anise oil instead of vanilla or lemon. That might be strong for some people, so you could use 1/8 tsp. and see what you think before you add more. If you use extract rather than oil then you might want 1/2 or 1 whole tsp. of extract. Third, it said it made 4 dozen cookies with a 3" cooky [sic] cutter, so I only made a half recipe. I used a mix of 2" and 3" and even a few 4" and still ended up with over 4 dozen cookies. That was rolling to between 1/8" and 1/4" (the recipe recommends 1/8") thickness. Fourth, I just used all-purpose flour from whatever brand we had (I think this time it was Bob's Red Mill, but sometimes we have King Arthur.) Fifth, I leave the salt out because the sodium in baking powder (or baking soda, which isn't in this recipe) is sufficient for my taste buds. I am aware that there are supposed to be chemical reasons to use salt, as well, but as far as I can tell they are only potentially critical in bread baking.
You might want to do a test batch in your oven. These cooked in 4-5 minutes, which is measurably faster than the recipe suggests, and they were appropriately crispy without being hard. The recipe doesn't say, but I let them cool for a minute or so on the sheets then transferred to racks because the delicate snowflake shapes are always at risk of breaking and I wanted them somewhat firmer and not hot right out of the oven when I transferred them.
Otherwise, I actually chilled the dough overnight covered in plastic wrap. I lightly floured the surface and the rolling pin I used for rolling out the cookies (I dipped the cutters in flour each time I used them, too.) I cut the dough into quarters and kept the part I wasn't rolling in the fridge. When I collected scraps, I re-rolled once, and then put those scraps into the bowl in the fridge with the other dough. It was pretty clear it got soft quickly and I thought keeping it chilled worked better and reduced how much flour got added by rolling (it seems like if you let a whole bunch of flour get added, it just toughens the dough and over stimulates the gluten). I only ended up with one cookie sized piece of uncut dough at the end and just flattened it into a round cookie.
#nomnomnom #cookiemonsterlives
This is the original recipe but I did as noted below.
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp lemon flavoring or 1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavoring thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together; blend in. Chill at least 1 hr.
Heat oven to 400 degrees (mod. hot). Roll dough 1/8" thick on lightly floured board. Cut with 3" cooky [sic] cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6 to 8 min., or until cookies are a delicate golden color. Makes about 4 doz. cookies.
Note:Do not use Gold Medal Self-Rising Flour in this recipe.
I made the following changes when I made it. First, I used butter at room temp (so softened but not mush) rather than shortening. Second, I used 1/4 tsp. anise oil instead of vanilla or lemon. That might be strong for some people, so you could use 1/8 tsp. and see what you think before you add more. If you use extract rather than oil then you might want 1/2 or 1 whole tsp. of extract. Third, it said it made 4 dozen cookies with a 3" cooky [sic] cutter, so I only made a half recipe. I used a mix of 2" and 3" and even a few 4" and still ended up with over 4 dozen cookies. That was rolling to between 1/8" and 1/4" (the recipe recommends 1/8") thickness. Fourth, I just used all-purpose flour from whatever brand we had (I think this time it was Bob's Red Mill, but sometimes we have King Arthur.) Fifth, I leave the salt out because the sodium in baking powder (or baking soda, which isn't in this recipe) is sufficient for my taste buds. I am aware that there are supposed to be chemical reasons to use salt, as well, but as far as I can tell they are only potentially critical in bread baking.
You might want to do a test batch in your oven. These cooked in 4-5 minutes, which is measurably faster than the recipe suggests, and they were appropriately crispy without being hard. The recipe doesn't say, but I let them cool for a minute or so on the sheets then transferred to racks because the delicate snowflake shapes are always at risk of breaking and I wanted them somewhat firmer and not hot right out of the oven when I transferred them.
Otherwise, I actually chilled the dough overnight covered in plastic wrap. I lightly floured the surface and the rolling pin I used for rolling out the cookies (I dipped the cutters in flour each time I used them, too.) I cut the dough into quarters and kept the part I wasn't rolling in the fridge. When I collected scraps, I re-rolled once, and then put those scraps into the bowl in the fridge with the other dough. It was pretty clear it got soft quickly and I thought keeping it chilled worked better and reduced how much flour got added by rolling (it seems like if you let a whole bunch of flour get added, it just toughens the dough and over stimulates the gluten). I only ended up with one cookie sized piece of uncut dough at the end and just flattened it into a round cookie.
#nomnomnom #cookiemonsterlives
Comments
Post a Comment