Yesterday I made a practice batch of NFSC and when I had either people test it, they said it tasted different. They said that the flavor was flat and that it had a dough-like taste to it. The only thing that I can think of is that I might have only added 1 tsp of vanilla instead of 2 and that when I defrosted my butter, it melted a little bit when I mixed it. Do you think those were the reasons why the cookie has a strange taste to it? Any other suggestions?

I'm sorry I can't help you with your question, but when I made these cookies, I thought they were not very good, I thought it was my baking powder maybe old. But mine tasted the same as you are describing.
HOpefully someone else can help you. If seems most people have good luck with these.
Jeanne

My husband actually doesn't love these cookies either, they aren't really my favorite tasting cookie but people I make them for seem to love them. What I do love is that they yield a lot of cookies and they hold the shape beautifully. I will say that they tasted so much better to me after bein iced with MMF or royal... the cookie by itself was sort of bland but the combination was good.

I think they pretty much taste flat and uninteresting if they're not frosted..........but once they're iced they're wonderful...but that's what I love about them......they're not overly sweet once they have icing or mmf on them. If you're looking for a cookie recipe that can stand on it's own....wilton has a roll out sugar cookie recipe that's pretty much the same as the NFSC recipe only it has more sugar......and they taste wonderful on their own but too sweet once iced in my opinion!!

I've used different flavorings such as almond or orange and it adds alot of flavor! You can also add some to you icing for that extra punch!

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one. I've tried adding some white icing to the cookies and they actually taste pretty good. I guess the sweetness of the icing balances out the not-so-sweet taste of the cookie.

I always add lots of flavoring to mine. My favorite is lemon and ice it in lime flavored royal. I have always thought they tasted wonderful.

mcalhoun: When you add extra flavoring, how much do you add?

I personally don't eat much of what I bake but I do have a DH and two little ones who eat just about all the cookies the minute they come out of the oven. My DH really likes these cookies and this is with or without icing.

SScakes my hubby is the same way he likes the NFSC with out anything on them...and so does my son...but after i made my first batch i thought the same thing ..blah...then someone on here told me to add almond and OMG it made the biggest difference. tasted like a totally different cookie.

I add almond extract to mine, in addition to the vanilla and they are really good. I made some w/o the almond once because I ran out and they weren't nearly as tasty! I take the total amount of vanilla the recipe calls for (2 tsp?) and do half vanilla and half almond. YUM!

BTW, the quality of yout flavorings/ingredients will also play a part in the flavor.

Personally i love them too. And everyone who has tried them love them.

I am not sure why but they just taste good. I use in my regular recipe almond and vanilla flavoring. I ice them with Alice's icing flavored the same. They are great.

For another flavor I use some lemon zest and lemon juice. And I do the same with the icing.

Love it and they hold a perfect shape.

I add almond and vanilla. I usually add a few extra teaspoons since I buy the huge bottle of Tones at Sam's.

OMG doesn't almond make them so tasty!!!!!!

I will have to try almond myself too. I dont like the NFSC either. Way too bland for my liking! I like sweet cookies. I have only used them with royal icing and they are okay. I want and are going to try them covered in MMF to see if that taste better!

I've only made them with the Almond flavor and not only do they SMELL good but they taste AMAZING!!! I LOVE them!!! You can put MMF on them if you want more flavor, but it's just WAY too sweet for me. The kids love it of course! I like the idea of adding lemon that sounds YUM!!!!

I think I like the no-fails BECAUSE they are so bland. I feel like I'm really eating flour, sugar, butter & eggs. And I guess I like that, but I can totally see why somebody wouldn't. (I eat them right out of the freezer, baked but not iced in any way!!!)

The kids and fiance fight over the NFSC, but ONLY with frosting. It's like the cookie and icing are ingredients in the same recipe, ya gotta have both to be right!

I make the NFSC with double vanilla, and add any special flavorings to the bc I top them with. I added enough to the icing that it is overpowering (mistake that worked), and it balances perfectly with the cookie. Almond is a good one to use with this.