I halved the recipe and after mixing, put it in the fridge to chill. Well it was in there for a day before I could get back to it and it was as hard as a rock. After I let it sit out and soften, it just fell apart and crumbled. What could I have done wrong/different?

It happened to me once, I think I didn't mix properly. Try putting it back in mixer with a bit more butter until it comes together.

Putting anything in the fridge will dry it out. Knead a few drops of water in until you get a good consistency. I half the recipe all the time and I don't think it was that.

I don't have good luck with that, so I always have to make my dough fresh.

This is completely off topic, but.....
Michelle, you are going to have to change your avatar! LOL! Everytime I see it in a post I get so distracted I can't even remember my name!! Man is he HOT! I will miss him this year. I hope he shows up on another show. Sorry for the off topic reply, but as I said, I get distracted!

Tracyscakes2009... I totally agree with you about MichelleM77 avatar he's yummy, lol, actually I look forward to MichelleM77 forum posts. To bad they cancelled the show, I caught him on the new season of Law and order SVU last week but not sure if he's going to be a regular. ok sorry now back to CC.

I was just coming on here to post that MY NFSC failed too!!!!
Exactly the same thing happened: I halved the recipe and it's really dry and crumbly. It's my first ever attempt at making NFSC and I think I'll go back to my regular butter cookie recipe.
Sure makes you feel like a failure when the phrase "no-fail" is even in the title, and they DO fail

Hee hee, you guys crack me up. By the way, I think he is going to be a regular on Law and Order. It's not the same, but I'll take it.

Definitely try making a full batch before giving up. Halving the recipe is more difficult, at least for me, as it doesn't seem to give the beaters enough to grab on to. Also, convert your flour to ounces (or whatever is a common conversion in your neck of the woods) and weigh it out if you can. This will make a world of difference. I always had problems with either too dry or too wet dough, until I got a scale. Don't over-mix the dough. It only needs to be mixed a little bit after you add the flour. It should just pull together and off of the sides of your mixing bowl, and you are done.

I too find that if I make the full recipe it works great - when I did try and 1/2 the recipe, it didn't work out so hot. SO now I just do the full batch, use what I need and then freeze the rest in a roll for slice and bake cookies (like the kind at the store)

I figured that one out the hard way, too. I keep my scraps of dry dough in the freezer, then when I make a fresh batch, I thaw out the scraps and crumble it into the fresh dough at the end and it makes way better cookies for some reason. I can't use dough that has been refrigerated or frozen after thawing, it is always dried out. Don't waste it, though. Recycling like I do will help prevent cookies from spreading.

Also, weighing the flour is critical. 6 cups weighs 1 1/2 lbs. I also use extra large eggs every time. Anything smaller and the dough doesn't turn out right for me.

I had to come back and say that I made the full batch and it turned out awesome. Took a little bit to figure out how the dough should feel but I ended up cooking everything. Now I get to have fun decorating.

Since we're off the topic of NFSC I would prefer his brother LOL. I also had the same problem the first time they failed for me too. I added a little more water to the dough & it worked fine.

I have made both full and half batches of NFSC and have not had any problems, and have left them in the fridge overnight. I do weigh my flour as one poster recommended.

GL and keep trying!

I store nfsc in the 'frig for long periods of time and I find it has to be wrapped REALLY WELL or it will get dry and crumbly. PUt it in a ziplok bag. For a large batch that I store in a bowl, I'll cover the bowl in saran and then wrap the bowl in alum foil.

I halved it with no problems as well. I think it just wasn't properly stored in the fridge, & as we all know the fridge is good for drying things out.

Didn't think of it until I saw indydebi's post, but I always put my NFSC in a ziploc bag before putting it in the frig!