Baking Uniform Butter Cookies
A butter cookie is nothing more than fat, sugar, and flour. Because there is no leavening to hide your mistakes, the shape you put into the oven is exactly what you get out of it.
Cold dough is the only way to hold a sharp edge.
If the butter in your dough softens too much during rolling, the cookies will spread into puddles. Keep your workspace cool and rotate your baking sheets.
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Cookie cutters
- Heavy-gauge baking sheets
- Oven thermometer
What goes in.
- 1 cupunsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cupgranulated sugar
- 1large egg
- 1 tspvanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cupsall-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 tspfine sea salt
Double-chill the cut-outs
Refrigerate the dough for an hour before rolling, and then again for 20 minutes after cutting shapes. This relaxes the gluten and firms the butter, preventing the cookies from losing their definition in the oven.
The method.
Cream the butter and sugar
Beat the two together until the mixture looks pale and grainy, but do not whip too much air into it or the cookies will puff unevenly.
Add liquids
Mix in the egg and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure no butter streaks remain.
Incorporate flour
Add the flour and salt in two batches. Mix just until the white streaks vanish. Overworking now makes the cookies tough.
Roll and cut
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to an even 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer the whole sheet to the fridge.
Bake
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until the edges are just barely straw-colored. If the edges turn brown, you have gone too far.
Other turns to take.
Lemon Zest
Rub the zest of one lemon into the sugar before creaming with the butter.
Almond
Replace 1/4 cup of the flour with finely ground almond meal for a sandy texture.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Never grease your baking sheets; the excess fat will cause the bottoms to spread and brown faster than the tops.
Bake only one sheet at a time in the center rack for even airflow.
If your dough becomes sticky while rolling, peel back the parchment, dust the surface with a tiny bit of flour, and chill it again.
The ones that keep coming up.
Why do my cookies spread?
The butter was likely too warm when the dough entered the oven. Always ensure the dough is chilled until firm to the touch before baking.
Can I use salted butter?
You can, but omit the additional salt from the recipe. Salted butter varies in sodium content, which makes consistent results harder to predict.
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