I sent my mom an email asking her the following about when she has always made this cookie recipe. I know she has made it every year, up until the last couple of years. She was NO help! LOL. She called me and just read me off the recipe (which I already have the same one, of course) and when I said "do you use butter or margarine?" She couldn't remember, butter she thought. Did she add flour to the rolling surface and pin? She thought so. Did she sift her flour? She didn't think so. She just kept saying, I just followed the recipe. LOL.
Here it is:
1 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
sprinkles
Mix butter, powdered sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extracts. Blend in flour, soda, cream of tartar. Cover and chill 2-3 hours. Divide dough in half and roll each half to 3/16" on floured cloth. Cut, sprinkle with sugar. Bake 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees.
Her cookies always turned out perfect and they melt in your mouth and taste yummy sweet with the hint of almond.
If mine taste just right, they don't hold their shape. If they hold their shape, they taste like there's no sugar in them. I can't get both.
Stupid cookies...........
UPDATE: ok, I think it's the powdered sugar was bad/old. I went to the store this afternoon to get ingredients to make a peppermint bark cheesecake DD and I want to try and bought a new bag of powdered sugar. I tasted a pinch from my old bag and the new. The new tasted sweet, the old tasted weird! kinda blah, like my cookies! Now I suppose I'll have to try another batch just to see, eh?
Do you chill the dough before using. I don't sift flour but use a small amt. of flour on the surface I am rolling the dough out on and on the rolling pin. Go with the taste not the look.
ReplyDeleteyes, I chilled it for 3 hours. I usually am ok with the mutant shapes, since they taste good, but I wanted to give some of these away and wanted actual shapes LOL
DeleteYour butter should be room temperature.
ReplyDeleteSoft, not melted, but easy to mix with other ingredients. Your egg should also be room temp and not refrigerated cold. I am also questioning the cream of tartar. But what do I know.
Butter (well I tried margerine this time) was softened at room temperature, but the egg wasn't room temperature. Not sure on the cream of tartar. We've been making this recipe for at least 50 years. I know that ingredient is also used the snicker doodle recipe I have
DeleteCan't help with your cookies, but thanks for the story because it reminded me of my late MIL. She made the most awesome chocolate chip cookies and when I asked for her secret, she said she just used the recipe on the chocolate chip bag, which I never believed! She definitely deviated from the recipe in some way, and now I really wish that I had watched her make the cookies.
ReplyDeleteI can't make good chocolate chip cookies either. But my peanut butter cookies are awesome! LOL
DeleteI would be happy if they tasted good.
ReplyDeleteMaybe forget holiday shapes and just decorate in red & green sprinkles. That's festive right there.
Most importantly, have fun baking with your DD.
usually I am just happy they taste good ;) but I wanted to give some away this year :(
Deleteare you at a higher altitude? more flour, lower temp/longer baking...sometimes extra egg white (which requires more flour) helps as well.
ReplyDeletewe are at about 2700 feet, but I had the same exact problems when we lived at 500 ft. Maybe I just need to try a new recipe!
DeleteBaking soda & powder go bad. Get fresh.
ReplyDeleteMy baking soda was fresh. I'm thinking it was the powdered sugar (see update above)
DeleteAre you living at a high altitude? That could be a factor.
ReplyDeletewe're at 2700-ish feet, but I had same problems when we lived at 500 ft, too
Deletehttps://www.aspicyperspective.com/heart-tree-cut-cookie-recipe/2/# I used this recipe this weekend. Held its shape tasted delicious !
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your professional approach.These are pieces of very useful information that will be of great use for me in future.
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