I just made a batch of the No Fail Sugar Cookies and I tasted one to make sure they were okay (ok I lied ... I really just wanted one, hehe)

Anyway, they taste salty. The recipe called for 1 tsp of salt AND 3 tsp baking powder.

Did I do something wrong? Should I not use any baking powder? Should I cut back on both salt and baking powder?

What do YOU do when you make them??

Sabbrina

Did you use salted butter or unsalted?

I used salted butter. Humm, I had not thought of that.

Another thing I noticed is that the cookies are not that sweet.

ANyone know what to do about the sweetness too?

Sabbrina

If the recipe calls for salt, then I would use unsalted butter and then you may notice a sweeter taste to the finished cookie.

I haven't made these cookies, but he butter is what usually comes to mind right away.

I'd have to see the recipe to suggest something about sweetness.

I would try the unsalted butter first. I find they are balanced in salt and sweet tastes. Once you put icing on them, that will make them sweeter too.

HTH!
Mirjana

Here is the recipe:

No Fail Sugar Cookies

6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.

This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3 cookies.

HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop
it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding
any additional flour to your cookies.

The recipe is posted here at CC...I copied & pasted here for you to see ...HTH


No Fail Sugar Cookies

Serves/Yields:
Prep. Time:
Cook Time:
Category: Cookies!
Difficulty: Easy


This recipe is GREAT when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking. Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking these or any other cookies.

6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)

Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3 cookies.

Nutrition Information
HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop
it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding
any additional flour to your cookies.

Source: kitchengifts.com
Contributed by: marinersfan on Thursday, November 03. 2005 at 18:11:04

Jenn -

Great minds think alike!!

LOL,
Sabbrina

Ooops! Too fast for me, sabbrina...lol Sorry it's posted twice now..

yeah, well whenever it calls for salt AND butter, use unsalted butter.

Now I might have to make some.

I wonder if they would be okay if I used SALTED butter (I bought 2 packs of it already and need to use it) and left out both the salt and the baking powder.

What do you think?

Sabbrina

I use salted butter when I make mine. I would call them a cross between a sugar cookie and a shortbread cookie. I don't think they are supposed to be like the regular sugar cookies I had been making. The first time I made them I didn't think they were very sweet by themselves. After icing them with royal icing, I thought they were great and if they were any sweeter to start with they would have been too sweet with icing. I just might try to unsalted butter next time I make them. That is if I can remember to buy the unsalted butter.

Hope that helps!

No, you would still need to add the baking powder or they will not rise enough.

These cookies are not overly sweet so when you ice them they are not too sweet, they're just right!

I use this recipe and I make mine with salted butter all the time. By the time you add your icing anything sweeter is too sweet.

Another hint, I don't ust this recipe, but still, when rolling them out I roll them on the counter sprinkled with powdeder sugar. Makes them perfectly sweet, even when you ice them.

Has anyone tried BF Crisco instead of butter in this recipe. I actually used 1/2 butter and 1/2 BF Crisco and the dough came out crumbly. I added 6 tsp of water to the recipe thinking that would help, but it didn't. Any suggestions?

Thank you everyone who replied. You have all given me a lot of great hints and tips about making these cookies. I am going to try making another batch tomorrow and omiting the salt.

Thanks
Sabbrina

Hi Everyone

I am so excited. I made a new batch of the No Fail Sugar Cookies today and they turned out sooooo good! Thank you for all the advice I got yesterday.

This is my tweek of the No Fail Recipe:
* I make it in a 1/2 batch, so that is what is below.

1 cup Salted Butter, softened slightly
1 cup Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3 Cups Flour

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Add baking powder and half of the flour. Mix well.
4. Add the rest of the flour and continue mixing until all ingredients are incorporated.
5. Divide Dough in half and roll it out between 2 sheets of wax or parchment paper until you get the desired thickness then place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
6. Take out of the freezer and remove top lining of the wax or parchment paper. Cut dough into desired shapes and place on another sheet of wax paper. Return the shapes to the freezer for another 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Take shapes OFF wax paper and place your cookies on your baking sheet. DO NOT PUT THE WAX PAPER IN THE OVEN, however if you use parchment paper then you CAN put that in the oven.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
9. When cookies are done take out of the oven and let them stand for about 5 minutes before you transfer them to a cookie rack.

Makes approx. 25 - 30 three inch cookies.

Well, that is what I did. For the most part I used the recipe, but tweeked it slightly. They turned out soooo good. I want to "taste test" another one, LOL.

Sabbrina

So glad they turned out for you this time, Sabbrina!!

i used a recipe very similair to this one except it doesn't call for baking powder. i got the recipe from melissa from thatcakeboard. you don't need baking powder, i, too, thought it would affect the outcome of the cookie but they come out perfect. plus, since i sell my decorated cookies, its nice to be able to keep cost down.

melissa's recipe

1cup butter
1cup sugar
1 egg
1 tea. vanilla
3 cups flour