It's been awhile since I've been on the forum. I'm making sugar cookies and need some reassurance and or suggestions. I've hear to stop the cookies from bubbling while baking they should be COLD. So I cut the cookies, put them on a baking sheet and refirgerated them for a few hours (covered) let the oven pre heat, baked them and they still kinda bubbled. I have them now in the referigerator before I frost them.
Next set of questions; If I freeze them how long can I keep them in the freezer before I frost?
Thanks for your time

I never use sugar cookies, they will spread and bubble. You don't need to refrigerate the baked cookies before frosting though, I'm not sure why you are doing that. I use recipes with the word "rolled" in them -- any rolled cookie will do and if you chill it (I like to cut out the cookies, put on the cookie sheets and chill overnight. Then the next morning I heat the oven and go right from the frig to the oven and have no spreading or bubbling problems at all.) The reason I used "rolled" cookie dough is because the sugar/flour ratio is different and that plays into the spreading issue. Hope that helps some!

I make NFSC without the baking powder so no spreading, and have never had a bubbling problem, sometimes the dough is cold, sometimes not by the time they hit the oven.

I wonder if the cookie sheet has something to do with the bubbling??? Anyone know?

By coincidence, I just made five different sugar cookie recipes to see which one would be best for some cut-outs with royal icing decoration for a charity auction at work. Two recipes bubbled. One recipe spread, but somehow pretty much kept its shape. Two recipes were great for cut-outs, and one tasted better than the other, so guess which I'm using?
It's a recipe that calls for butter, which I thought caused spreading, but apparently not. I always cut out the cookies, put them in the freezer for 10 minutes or so and then bake. Works good for me.

So, what's the recipe GinnyKay?

I don't chill or freeze the cookies before baking. They go from being cut, onto the tray, and into the oven. The only time i had an issue with a bit of spreading was when i cut the cookie out too thick.
The great thing about icing the cookie is that the flaws (cracks, bumps, etc) are covered!

If you freeze baked cookies properly, they should last at least a few months. I've had them frozen for 4 months and they were perfectly delicious when defrosted.

Ginnykay,
I'm with verono-which recipe did you like the best?

bobwonderbuns-
Any specific rolled cookie recipe? I googled and came up with lots of rolled/sugar cookies - and I wasn't sure what ratio of flour/sugar I was looking for.

Thanks.

I freeze the cookies but then I transfer them to a room temperature baking sheet and pop in the oven. The idea of freezing for 10 min. before baking is so that the outside of the cookie cooks before the inside, sealing in the cookie to its shape and size that it is...if the center starts to cook before the outside you get spreading issues.

A lot of people throw them in the freezer and take the cold cookie sheet with the cookies out and put them in the oven, this defeats the whole purpose of cooling the cookies, put them on a room temp. sheet, then the sheet warms up quicker than the cookie causing the outside to cook faster and not spread

HTMS

Wow... Thanks for all the tips. I have never had an issue with the dough spreading, just some bubbles. Bobwonderbuns...when you chill them overnite do you cover the sheets? and do you use the same sheets in the oven or transfer the cookies to a room temp sheet???

You can put plastic wrap over them if you like but I never do. I take them right from the cold fridge to the hot oven. The pans don't buckle either!

bobwonderbuns -
Do you still add baking powder? Does everyone? I heard it was best not to.

Also, how thick does everyone roll their cookies?

To that recipe yes, I add baking powder. I also have shortbread type recipes that I mix by hand entirely with no added leavening -- those recipes I use for my cookie molds. (In that case any leavening, or even mixing with a mixer as opposed to hand will blur out the picture from the cookie mold.) I roll the cookies to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick -- I use the smallest wheel on the smart rolling pin. They come out perfect every time!

Verono and Phyllis52 asked for the sugar cookie recipe I chose after trying five different ones, the recipe that had the best taste and made the best cut-outs. Here it is:
The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies
allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl,cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder and sale. Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.,
Bake 6-8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Notes: I used my stand mixer, no problem.
I roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper; you don't have to add flour, you can reroll the scraps without worrying about adding too much flour, it's easy clean-up.
These make great thick cookies and great thinner cookies. I tried both. I prefer thick cookies -- more flavor.
After putting the cookies on sheets, I stick the sheets in the freezer for 10 minutes or so, then straight into the oven.

Thanks, I use the same! hehehe

same one i use too

GinnyKay: when you rolled the dough 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, do they stay pretty much the same thickness after baking?

TIA

Mine do, with little spreading.

Thank you bobwonderbuns, I saw this wooden board at Joann's today that I want to use to roll out cookie dough but thought maybe it was too deep. I think I will buy it and give it a try and see if I can get the dough to roll even.

GinnyKay - thanks for sharing recipe. I look forward to trying it out.

I use the smart rolling pin and have no problems at all. I use the smallest wheel on it and we're good to go!

GinnyKay:

Thanks so much for the recipe - I can't wait to try it.

Phyllis

Oh, you made my day with this recipe!!!
I had tried several recipes for cutout biscuits, including the one on youtube from misstruly, but they were all a total failure to me (maybe one reason is that I have to convert all measuring in metric) as they all spread so much that they became nearly a single cake when baked
I will try this recipe asap, thank you so much!!!

GinnyKay -

Just tried your rolled cookie recipe and it's unanimous - everyone loves it! They taste delicious and don't go flat.

I'm going to be using this recipe for my daughter's mini wedding cake favors (200 of them at 3 cookies each!). Thanks for doing the testing.

Phyllis

I know that a couple of you have said that GinnyKay's recipe doesn't spread...so I guess I'm just triple checking! Even with 2 tsp baking powder, the shapes stay nice and crisp? I used a recipe last week that had 1 1/2 tsp and they puffed enough that corners were round, rather than pointy, if that makes sense. With NFSC, I left out the baking powder and they didn't spread/puff...but I was looking for something with a better flavor.

I tried this one yesterday. It has not been baked yet. I left it in the fridge 5 hrs but it was so sticky it was unspreadable even putting it between 2 sheets of parchment paper.....I had to add LOTS of flour and put it back in the fridge. I was afraid I had messed up with the measurements as I have to convert to metric, but I checked and conversions are right. Consistency when I pulled it out of the fridge was very very soft and sticky. when i put it on the paper it just glued to it........I don't know why

Is there a difference in the moisture content of butter between Italy and the US? I've done some baking in the Virgin Islands and found that the butter available there makes a difference. I started carrying butter flavor Crisco down with me so I could bake cookies that wouldn't spread to cover the pan.

This is a thing I really dunno..............anyway I made the cookies today with the batch I prepared yesterday and to which I added the flour.
The result is: the cookies are lovely, not too sweet and more to the crunchy side; they held shape wonderfully, I also made some very tiny ones. Tomorrow decorate them! So For me it's ok with let's say 200 grams more four. If I find out how to post a pic here I'll do when they are done!

I'm always on the lookout for neww cookie recipes. I'm gonna try this one. Thanks for sharing it.

I just made about 100 cookies with NFSC recipe and thought it was great. I kept the dough slightly chilled and popped them into the oven also slightly chilled. Toba Garrett glace and my airbrush finished them up. So fun. I added some orange extract & orange zest to the cookies..yum!

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