sugar cookies

[Jeremy1973]

okay...for all those who bake cookies...

I make some rockin sugar cookies. They taste great, and they are soft. The only thing I seem to be having a problem with is they seem to be a little crumbly. *they weren't that bad this time...used 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening* The batch I made tonight wasn't to bad, better then last time, but still...I demand perfection. heh heh Any thoughts?

[cyberchef]

Can you describe how you make them, including in detail the steps and all? Your recipe could be a little off, you might be working the cookie dough too much, not enough, butter may be too soft or not soft enough. Sugar cookies are pretty basic as far as the ingredients and there's not too much else to "hold" them together so they should be crumbly to a point, but you should be able to pick them up and eat them... lol Shortening would not contain the moisture that whole butter would but it also won't add the flavor that butter will. The moisture in the butter helps to create litle tiny air pockets in the dough as it cooks, thereby making the cookies "lighter" and softer in texture. No moisture at all and it will be a much harder cookie, like dry playdough but oily. Don't worry, you can't remove all of the moisture, even the sugar and flour contain moisture. Even the brand of butter or shortening can make a difference. HTH...

[Jeremy1973]

Sugar-Cookies Cutouts

1/3 cup margarine or butter (I used Land of Lakes butter)
1/3 cup shortening (I used Crisco butter shortening)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
Dash salt

Beat margarine and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add about half of the flour, the egg, sugar, milk, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat till thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover; chill for 3 hours.

On floured (use powdered sugar) surface, roll dough to 1/8” thick. Cut into desired shapes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375∞ for 7-8 minutes ( a little less for softer cookies) Cool..and enjoy.

This recipie using the shortening did better then the last batch I made where the recipie called for only butter. So, the shortening helped some. But, I KNOW I use to make them where they didn't crumble like they do now. I am happy with what I made last night..but darn it..my friends deserve better. heh heh Thanks.

[cyberchef]

Overall the recipe seems fine, there is nothoing standing out that seems like it should be a problem. If you want the cookies to be less crumbly you might try adding a little extra flour to the recipe, start with a couple Tablespoons to start and see how they turn out. I did notice that you used powdered sugar instead of flour for rolling them out, the loss of flour from the roling process could be a factor, the reason for suggesting adding a little more flour to the recipe.

I've got a recipe here you might want to try..

1/2 C Lard (if you don't want to use lard then use all butter, 1 C butter total for the whole recipe)
1/2 C Butter (unsalted)
1 C Brown sugar
1 C white sugar
3 eggs
1 C sour cream
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t salt
2 t vanilla
approximately 3 1/2 C flour

Cream the fats and sugar together until they are light and fluffy. Add eggs and sour cream; blend thoroughly. Add baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla, mix well. Add 3 C flour, more if necessary to stiffen. Stir until flour is incorporated.
The secret is to keep the dough soft like a cake batter. It is tricky to handle. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and efrigerate for at least 12 hours before trying to roll it out.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heavily flour the board/countertop. Place half of dough on floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to between 1/4" and 1/2" (depends on how thick you want the cookies). Dip the cutter in flour and cut the dough into cookies. Place cookies 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned on edges and firm. Cool completely on rack.

[ShirleyM]

YUM! I printed out both your recipes and am going to make Sugar Cookies for my family this weekend!!

Thanks!
Shirley

[cath]

OK, kiddos...it's time to pull this thread out for general consumption, bein' so close to Santa time. These are some great cookies! I've tried both recipes

[Zacrifice]

soft but crumbling can indicate not anough of a binder.
Either try reducing the amount of shortener
or increasing the amount of flour.
Rolling in icing sugar (powarderd suger) shouldn't affect the cookie its only purpose is to stop sticking.
Over working the cookie batter can also increase the shortening of the batter causing crumble.