but want to give them a shot
cookies aren't a "huge" deal in Aust, but we do have them! Anyway, i have seen the NFSC recipe on here, and as i only want to make a small batch of 1 or 2 dozen, i just was planning on cutting the recipe in half. Was wondering if that would affect it at all? Also, i saw somewhere on a forum the other day this discussion about "double cutting" the cookie--but i have no idea what that means?
By all means i have no intention of becoming cookie enthusiast, but as i am short of time to prepare something for a morning tea on thurs, i thought cookies would perhaps be easiest-- maybe that was naive? hehe
any help would be greatly appreciated!!
TIA
lollyponpon

Cookies are LOTS of fun. I have never tried NFSC, so I cannot comment on that recipe. Good luck with your cookies! This is the recipe that I use and it has always turned out for me.

Ingredients
  1 1/2 cups butter, softened
  2 cups white sugar
  4 eggs
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  5 cups all-purpose flour
  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
Directions
1.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.  Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.


This is the recipe for the glace that I use on my cookies- http://cakecentral.com/recipes/15672/glaze-icing-sugar-cookie-icing

oh wow thanks!! did you know what i was walkin g about with the double cutting thing? from what i can gather it is something to do with shaped cookies? The cookie cutter i want to use is a breast cancer awareness shape... so i dont really want them to become miss-shaped

I have never heard of the double cut cookies. Sorry. I am going to have to look it up.

If you are icing them, that glace recipe work really well for outlining as well. If you thicken a little bit of it with powdered sugar just for the outline (throw it in a piping bag and pipe around the outside). Then for the center put a little bit of the thinner icing on the cookies and "flood" them. If I didn't make any sense, please feel free to ask more questions.

ok awesome--it definately sounds fantastic! thanks so much for generously offering your help and recipe!!! I'll try to find the thread i'm talking about, but i can't quite remember the topic i was in LOL

You are very welcome. I just did a search for it and I couldn't find it. Don't waste too much time looking for it for me.

NO I FOUND IT!!! I remembered a username i saw in the thread because it had a gorgeous cookie in its picture!
anyway here it is... http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-697670-.html
i have asked in that thread too so fingers crossed i will figure out what they mean when somebody can have a look and find a chance to reply
thanks again for your help!!

Ah. The cookies sometimes spread when you bake them, so what they do is cut them again after they bake them to make them back to the original shape. I have never had to "double cut" my cookies.

Good luck with your cookies.

what a pain in the butt== maybe if that were the case i'd just make a sheet cake LOL
awesome thank you so so much!! I'll be sure to let you know how i go if i do get the chance to make them!!
This will sound so stupid but what do these cookies taste like? Because as i said i was thinking of making them in the ribbon shape, and then do some icing in pink... if i use your icing, can i also make that pink??

I usually put almond emulsion in there instead of an extract to give them an almond flavor. You can put any kind of extract in there that you want. You can make the icing pink. I make mine all kinds of colors. I also put the emulsion in the icing as well. Please do let me know how it goes!

the NFSC recipe can be halved without any problem. I do that almost all the time.

If you sue the NFSC recipe, and chill the dough well before baking (several hours or even overnight), you shouldn't need to double cut. I have about 5% increase from dough to baked cookie (which is very little), but the shapes still remain proportionate.

I do reduce the baking powder in the recipe (I use about 3/4 teaspoon in a half batch) and add extra flavoring - usually either vanilla or almond.

lollyponpon...
There is a great website, www.sweetopia.net ...this is how I got started doing cookies. She has great tutorials for icing the cookies and she also has recipes for the cookies as well as the icing (which are the best I have come across). Many helpful tips in there..HTH and good luck! Cookies are fun!

oh thank you for your helpful (as always!!) replies today!! as i'm thinking of baking them tomorrow night- i am going to have to find some time tonight to make the dough--want to make them aseasy and tasty as possible hehe