Chewy Sugar Cookies From Cooks Illustrated Food

CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES FROM COOK'S ILLUSTRATED

Steps:

• NOTE: Dough will be slightly softer than most. Handle as briefly and as gently as possible when shaping. Overworking the dough results in flatter cookies.
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Set aside.
• Place 1 1/2 cups sugar and cream cheese in large bowl. Place remaining 1/3 cups of sugar in shallow baking dish or pie plate and set aside. Pour warm butter over sugar and cream cheese and whisk to combine (some small lumps of cream cheese will remain but will smooth out later). Whisk in oil until incorporated. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; continue to whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix with rubber spatula until soft homogenous dough forms.
• Divide dough into 24 equal pieces, about 2 tablespoons each (can use #40 portion scoop). Using hands, roll dough into balls. Working in batches, roll balls in reserved sugar to coat and evenly space on prepared baking sheet, 12 dough balls per sheet. Using bottom of a drinking glass, flatten dough balls until 2" in diameter. Sprinkle tops evenly with 4 teaspoons of sugar remaining in shallow dish (2 teaspoons per baking sheet), discarding any remaining sugar.
• Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges are set and just beginnning to brown, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating sheet after 7 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes. Using wide spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg and beat to incorporate. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat on medium-low speed until incorporated.
• Put some sugar in a small bowl. Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of the batter, roll them into balls and coat in the sugar. Arrange the balls on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. (There will be additional batter for a second batch.)
• Bake until the bottoms and edges are barely golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. When the baking sheets are cool, repeat with the remaining batter. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

MADELEINES(COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees, middle rack.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, salt. Set aside.
• Beat yolks with whole egg and vanilla in bowl of electric mixer, about 5 minutes on high speed if using hand mixer. Slowly add sugar beating until a ribbon drops from beaters, about 5 minutes with hand mixer. The batter should be very light and fluffy.
• Gradually fold in the dry ingredients using a spatula. Fold very gently and carefully. Then do the same with the melted butter.
• Spoon batter into molds. (Batter should come just flush with mold rim.) Don't bother smoothing the batter; you don't want to deflate it, and it will smooth out on its own in the oven. Bake until tops are golden and cakes spring back when pressed lightly, about 10 minutes.
• Spread out a clean dishcloth on your work surface. When the madeleines come out of the oven, turn them out right onto the dishcloth. You need to get them out of the pans while they're still very hot. Do not let them cool in the pans. The madeleines are delicate when warm, so they're easily broken, so be careful when moving them until they are cool. Cool to room temperature. (Can be stored in airtight container up to 3 days or frozen up to 1 month.).

SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
• In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium-high until the mixture is light, fluffy and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl, and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, and beat until everything is well combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed.
• Add dry ingredients all at once, and mix on low speed just until incorporated.
• Scrape dough out of bowl and divide it in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, patting into a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out dough, one disk at a time, on lightly floured parchment paper or work surface until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Create shapes, using a lightly floured cookie cutter. (Alternatively, using a knife, cut the dough into squares, rectangles or diamonds.) If at any point the dough becomes too soft to cut and cleanly remove from parchment paper, slide it onto a cookie sheet and chill for a few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator. Gather any dough scraps and combine them into a disk. Roll and repeat the cookie-cutting process, chilling as necessary.
• Place shapes onto parchment-lined baking sheets 1 inch apart and bake until cookie edges are lightly browned with sandy, pale centers, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Cool the cookies on a rack, if you have one. Otherwise, let them cool on the pan. Decorate with a glaze, royal icing, frosting, glitter, food-grade luster dust or whatever you'd like. Don't forget the sprinkles.

OATMEAL-RAISIN COOKIES (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
• Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and optional raisins.
• Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper-covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

THICK & CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BARS, FROM COOK'S ILLUSTRATED RECIPE - (4.1/5)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 X 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk melted butter and sugars in medium large bowl until combined. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not over mix. Fold in chips and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with spatula. Bake until top is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 27 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

LEMON-POPPYSEED SUGAR COOKIES(COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Adjusting the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions, then preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Prepare the sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed, scraping as needed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add the eggs, extract, lemon juice, lemon zest. Beat at medium speed until well combined, less than a minute.
• Stir together the 4 cups flour, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. Add to creamed mixture and mix until just blended together. A light hand will yield a tender cookie. Test for stickiness. Add more flour until not sticky. You don't want them so stiff they turn out to be cardboard, but you do have to shape them for baking.
• Place the 1/2 cup sugar in a large bag. Using a 1 1/2″ cookie scoop, scrape them out of the bowl and dump into the bag of sugar. Shake gently, then reach in and with your hand, shake the extra sugar off and put the rounded mounds onto the parchment-covered cookie sheet. (You can use a nonstick cooking spray, but the bottoms of your cookies will be darker.).
• Using one of those papers from your butter cube, butter up the bottom of a drinking glass that's about 2″ across, then dip the glass into the sugar.
• Flatten the cookies just until they reach the edge of the glass. (They will be about 5/8″ thick.).
• Bake for 15-18 minutes, switching the cookie sheets mid-way through baking, as well as turning them around. Bake until the edges are golden brown and the middles are just set and very lightly colored. .
• Cool on the sheets for about 3 minutes, then move them to the wire rack.

CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until just blended.
• Wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and roll the balls in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned at the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

EASY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.