This Valentines, whisper "I love you" with home-baked cookies baked with love. This recipe is written for new bakers who wonder, Why does a recipe say that? What do they mean by that?
This Valentine’s Day, whisper “I love you” with a plateful of just-baked cookies. If you’re an experienced cook, share your knowledge and a cookie-baking afternoon with a young cook. Or if you’re a new cook, let’s decode a simple but delicious cookie recipe step by step. Why this? Why that? The answers are here.
Cookie recipes call for butter warmed to room temperature so it will mix more evenly; just leave a stick on the counter for two to three hours. Unsalted butter allows control over how much salt is added; to use salted butter, no problem, just omit the added salt. Slightly warm eggs capture more air, resulting in lighter cookies. Always fluff flour before measuring; otherwise you’ll use more than needed and risk tough baked goods. Small grains of ‘table salt’ (every-day salt, not kosher or sea salt) distribute evenly throughout cookie dough.
Cookies baked in the middle of an oven benefit from even heat distribution. It takes an oven 10-15 minutes to ‘preheat’ and reach the optimal baking temperature. In this recipe, the ‘dry’ ingredients are flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and table salt. When dry ingredients are lightly mixed beforehand, it’s easier to not overmix the dough, which can cause toughness. Leaving space between the dough balls prevents the cookies from touching as they spread while baking. A time range, versus a specific number of minutes, allows for variations in oven temperatures and other conditions. Check the cookies after 8 minutes, if they’re done, proceed; if not, bake another minute or two til done.
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CINNAMON SUGAR COOKIES
Time to table: about 4 hours
Makes about 30 cookies
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature (why?)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg, immersed in warm water for 5 minutes (why?)
- 1-1/2 cups flour, fluffed with a fork before measuring (why?)
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table (why?) salt
- 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Place oven rack in center slot (why?). Set oven to 350F and preheat (why?). While oven heats, in a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with electric mixer until thoroughly mixed. Add egg, beat til smooth. In a small bowl, stir together dry ingredients (what?) with a fork (why?). Mix into dough, stopping as soon as flour is incorporated. (Why?)
In a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Break off piece of dough about size of a cherry tomato with fingertips, shape into a ball between your palms, roll in sugar mixture. Arrange balls in rows on a cookie sheet about two inches apart (why?). When sheet is full, place in hot oven to bake for 8 – 10 minutes (why?). Remove sheet, let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a paper towel on a counter to finish cooling. Repeat with the cooled tray til dough is gone (or use a second tray). Savor, share, be proud!
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At 75 calories, 3g of fat and 0g of fiber, each cookie is 2 Weight Watcher Points, not 1. Two cookies is 4 Weight Watcher Points.
It makes a difference to those of us on the plan! =)
That said, points are simply a guide, they help us make decisions. So if "two points" works for you, go for it. Good luck with your weight loss!
I just baked these cookies and they are delicious! Thank you for your many tips on how to create the perfect cookie (I had NO idea about the "egg in warm water" one!).
I have recently began Weight Watchers and was so happy to find a recipe for cinnamon sugar cookies. To actually have it turn out to be one of the best cookies I've made was just an added bonus! I'm looking forward to trying out some of your other recipes. Thanks!
Lime Sugar Cookies: add 1 1/2 teaspons of lime oil (Boyajian purchased from King Arthur catalog)to the butter/sugar mixture. For the sugar topping, add 1/8 tsp lime oil to 1 tblsp sugar and dip the cookie in that before baking.
Cocoa Sugar Cookies: reduce the flour by 1/4 c. add 1/4 c. dark cocoa and 1 tsp orange oil. Dip in plain sugar (you could add orange oil here too but I didn't). This is a stiffer cookie dough and needs to be flattened with the back of a spoon before baking.
Both of these ideas were my version of Dancing Deer Baking Co. cookies.
Susan from Massachusetts
Given the description of the crumbly dough, is it possible that you maybe used a half stick of butter versus a half cup which is a whole stick?
What kind of flour did you use? I've had trouble, before, using King Arthur's 100% White Whole Wheat Flour, and even find some difference with the King Arthur all-purpose flour. As for fluffing, it's no particular trick, you just fluff it up with a fork two or three times, you can actually FEEL it lighten up.
After that -- hmm, I'm not sure.
But I do apologize -- I work really hard to make sure ALL recipes are real winners, both in taste and technique.
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna