This is the recipe that I used for my home cookie business from 2014-2017. Warning: the cookies are addictive, or so I've been told. Measuring the ingredients by weight is recommended. I bake cookies until they have golden brown edges/bottom, because what is the point of having all that sugar without the caramelized sugar taste? IMHO.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 oz) unsalted butter*
- 1 3/4 cups (12 oz, or 352 g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 480g or 17 oz (4 cups) all-purpose flour
- In large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add salt and vanilla and mix.
- Add the eggs and beat until combined.
- Add the flour and baking powder. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture just until blended.
- Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into thirds. Roll each portion to 3/8 inch thickness between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper
- Refrigerate until the dough is cold, can be overnight.
- Cookie dough can then also be tightly wrapped (I use Ziploc bags) and frozen for up to a few months.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Get out the cookie cutters.
- Remove chilled dough from refrigerator and cut the dough into as many shapes as possible. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing about 1 inch apart.
- Gather the scraps of dough together and re-roll and cut more cookies. The cookies can be decorated before baking with sprinkles, or you can wait to add frosting/icing after baking. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake for 14-15 minutes (depends on the size of the cookies) until the cookies are light golden brown at the edges on the bottom. Remove from pan with a spatula. I turn the pans back to front in the oven halfway through baking.
- Frost with royal icing (below), cookie icing, or whatever frosting you like.
- Store in a tightly covered container, separating and cushioning the layers with sheets of waxed paper.
*You can substitute below for the 2 sticks of butter:
1 stick (4 oz) butter and 4 oz vegetable shortening, at room temperature
Large recipe (1.5 times batch):
Large recipe (1.5 times batch):
- 3 sticks butter (12 oz.)
- 18 oz sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 720 g all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp meringue powder (or 2 egg whites)
- 1/4 cup water plus enough extra water for adjusting consistency
- 1 tsp clear or regular vanilla extract
- 455 g sifted powdered sugar (this is approximately 1 lb.)
- Mix the meringue powder with the water and beat with a power mixer until it foams up like beaten egg whites.
- Add the extract. Add the powdered sugar and start beating with the power mixer. Make sure there's no big lumps in the powdered sugar.
- The mixture will be dry, so add water little by little until it is a stiff but not dry consistency. I use a spray bottle to add the water.
- Now beat it for at least 5 minutes, until the icing is white and has a fluffy consistency.
- Store with plastic wrap over the top to prevent drying out, in a airtight container. Use food color gel to color, and only mix in food coloring by stirring (don't use mixer).
- I use a spray water bottle to adjust consistency to piping or flood consistency.