Tuesdays with Dorie: Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies

December 9, 2008 · 20 Comments

Mmmm, sugar cookies. The absolute holiday classic. Easy to make, easy to decorate, easy to wolf down. :) Dorie’s sugar cookies are delicious!

You know me–always having to play around with the recipes. I chose to make half the batch using a star-shaped cookie cutter and the other half using a snowflake-shaped cookie cutter .

As I usually do, I subbed a small amount of whole wheat flour for the AP flour. The dough came together easily. It was very, very soft, but after a few hours in the freezer, it firmed up perfectly. But I had to cut out the shapes fast–the dough turns soft quickly, so after each batch, I’d take the dough scraps, shape them into a flat patty and put them back in the freezer until it firmed up and I could cut out more shapes.

Baking the cookies was almost instantaneous. The recipe called for 9 to 11 minutes–I put mine in for just under 9 minutes, and even then, they ended up browning just a smidgen more than I wanted them to. But I do have to say: Naked, puffy sugar cookies always look yummy! :)

For the star-shaped cookies, I made a chocolate icing to decorate the cookies with. Of course, since it is the holiday season, I crushed up some peppermint candies and sprinked them on top.

For the snowflake cookies, I wanted an icing that would dry very hard. I made a royal icing using meringue powder, and tinted it with food coloring. I was going for the icy blue look, and then I embellished it with a white snowflake pattern and sprinkled it with granulated sugar…what do you think? I know, the picture is so dark…that’s the worst thing about food blogging in the winter–you don’t have very much time to take advantage of the sunlight!

I initially thought I’d enjoy making the snowflakes more, just because in my mind I expected them to look much more elegant than the stars, but it turns out they were so much more labor intensive that I got tired and frustrated with them pretty quickly. Royal icing takes a lot more babying than melted chocolate does.

In the end, I liked these cookies enough–they were sweet, soft and chewy. I think I may have made a little mistake when I left them in the oven a minute longer than I should have–I like my sugar cookies really, really soft and chewy, with no hint of crispiness, and these were just a tad crispy on the edges. Again, though, my fault. And what I’ll probably do next time is roll the dough out very thick, because I like sugar cookies extremely puffy too. :)

For the complete recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies, head over to Ulrike’s blog, Küchenlatein. And see how other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers decorated their cookies!

Recipe: Chocolate Icing

1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon butter

Put chocolate chips and butter in a bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted.

Recipe: Royal Icing
Makes about 1 cup

1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon meringue powder
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water, plus more for thinning
Food coloring

Using an electric or hand mixer, beat the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder until combined. Add the water and beat continuously until stiff peaks form. Add more water to get a thin consistency. Use the icing immediately or keep it in an airtight container.

Tags: Cookies · Dessert · Tuesdays with Dorie

20 responses so far ↓

1 HoneyB // Dec 9, 2008 at 5:52 am

You did a great job with both cookies! I admit, I was getting sick of decorating by the time I was halfway through, but I did them all!
2 chocolatechic // Dec 9, 2008 at 8:09 am

OH……my…….gracious me!

Yours look fabulous!

I want some of yours.
3 Amanda // Dec 9, 2008 at 8:30 am

Beautiful!! Love the way they came out :) I’m with you, I prefer soft and chewy. I was really happy with this recipe, loved the way they turned out. Just wish they had lasted longer LOL
4 Vibi // Dec 9, 2008 at 9:53 am

I’ll say like you: Mmmm… sugar cookies. But c’mon… with the works? I’ll have 4, no 5 please! LOL LOL
What more to ask for than, wow… chocolate, crushed candy canes on a sugar cookies!
Very bright idea, Happy Tummy!
5 dharmagirl // Dec 9, 2008 at 9:59 am

Your cookies are beautiful and look delicious! I’m glad to know that the whole wheat flour works well:)

My next non-TWD cookie recipe–chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies. They’re seriously addictive.
6 Jessica // Dec 9, 2008 at 11:07 am

Very pretty cookies! Peppermint/chocolate icing sounds wonderful.
7 Carolina // Dec 9, 2008 at 11:46 am

Great job! I love the royal icing touch. I am going to use your recipe in my endless quest to find a good one. Yours looks like it will do just the trick!
8 kim // Dec 9, 2008 at 12:25 pm

oh wow!! the chocolate and candy cane ones look just fabulous. and the snowflakes are so pretty :) glad you like them!
9 Carolyn // Dec 9, 2008 at 3:21 pm

Beautiful! Love the icing with the candy.. how creative you are :)
10 Amy Ruth // Dec 9, 2008 at 10:04 pm

I love love love the happy peppermint on top of the chocolate stars, Very zzz zzza. Plus, I’m sure they tasted delish. Glad you liked them. Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit.
AmyRuth
11 Jessica // Dec 10, 2008 at 1:04 pm

Those look beautiful! I am making my Christmas cookies tomorrow night and will definitely be getting some candy canes to mash up and use as a topping. Great idea!
12 Teanna // Dec 10, 2008 at 4:14 pm

You. are. killing. me! I don’t know which one I would shove in my mouth first… I’m thinking the chocolate and peppermint…
13 Jacque // Dec 10, 2008 at 8:35 pm

Oh, they both look terrific! Very Christmas-y indeed :)
14 Sabrina // Dec 11, 2008 at 2:43 pm

Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving such a nice comment about my loss. Very sweet of you…

Your sugar cookies look amazing!! Nice job! :)
15 27susans // Dec 11, 2008 at 7:20 pm

Great idea to use candy canes. Thanks for the icing recipes.
16 Karen // Dec 13, 2008 at 1:04 pm

your cookies look great. i love the snowflake ones.
17 Melissa // Dec 13, 2008 at 3:26 pm

Super Cute!
18 Megan // Dec 13, 2008 at 4:14 pm

those cookies look amazing! chocolate and peppermint is my favorite combination to enjoy during the holiday season. yum!
19 Michelle // Dec 17, 2008 at 11:07 pm

I love your blue icing with white icing on top on snowflake cookies. I think it looks much better than using just plain white icing only.
Looks so yummy!
20 Nancy (n.o.e.) // Jan 10, 2009 at 7:47 pm

Both of these are so pretty. Love the stars especially!
Nancy

HappyTummy