Tips To Make Perfect Sugar Cookies
Sugar cookies can be a delicious treat that is fairly easy to make. While these cookies are far from being difficult to bake, there are some tips that can help you to ensure that your next batch of sugar cookies avoid some commonly encountered problems that could severely impact the taste or texture of your cookies.
Allow The Butter To Slightly Soften
Before you start the process following your recipes and mixing your sugar cookie dough, you will want to take the butter out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter for at least several minutes. This will allow the butter to become soft, which will make the dough much easier to work and roll. Some individuals will attempt to use the microwave to gently heat the butter so that they can avoid the need to wait for it to soften. However, this can make it easy to over soften the butter, which can cause the cookies to have trouble retaining their shapes.
Chill The Dough
After you have made the cookie dough, you should place it in the refrigerator for around a half hour. This step will allow the dough to become more firm. Failing to chill the dough will lead to cookies that fall apart or dough that tears during the rolling and forming process. While the dough is being chilled, you should place a cloth over the top of it to minimize moisture loss without depriving the dough of air.
Divide The Dough Into Small Batches
It can be tempting to try and roll all of your sugar cookie dough at once. However, this can lead to lumpy dough that will produce uneven cookies. A convenient way of reducing these issues will be to divide the dough into several smaller batches that will be easy to roll and form. While this may add a little time to the process of preparing sugar cookies, it will greatly enhance the uniformity of your cookies.
Properly Store The Finished Sugar Cookies
After you have finished baking your sugar cookies, you will have to make sure that they are properly stored. When sugar cookies are not properly stored, they can quickly lose much of their moisture. You can avoid this by always covering the sugar cookies. Also, you should avoid placing them in the refrigerator as the cold air can be extremely dry. If you must refrigerate the cookies, make sure that they are placed in an airtight container to minimize the amount of moisture that will be lost to the cold air.