Made a batch of the NFSC yesterday and ended up having to add milk as my dough wouldn't pull together, it was really dry.

It was really hard to work with too so I put some in the micro for 10 seconds to get it easier to roll. Once I did this everything came into place and I was able to get my cookies done.

I followed the recipe, what do you think happened?

same thing has happen to me.. Im guessing that i added to much flour.....

Did you let the dough mix inthe mixer for a minute or 2 after you added everything? For me, if you let it keep mixing, it comes together....

I always have the same problem. I don't use all the flour. I think I end up leaving about a cup out and then I use that extra for rolling it out. Also the heat of my hands helps warm the dough up. I was very discouraged the first time but hang in there!

I made 2 batches of these last week and I too thought that the dough was terribly dry and crumbly. I just worked it in my hands until it warmed up a little and came together. Both batches ended up working just fine, but I was definitely worried.

I also had to throw out the crumbly dough in the bottom of the bowl. It was just too crumbly. I think next time I will try adding less flour.

bonniebakes, yes I did let the mixer run, and run, and run, and run.
I was to the point that I thought this is starting to look like sand so I started add milk little by little until it started to form. Then, my KA was working hard so I probably needed to add even more liquid but was afraid to.

Maybe next time I'll just use less flour

I'm sorry you're having a tough time with the NFSC. They're supposed to behave themselves!

Two questions--

Did you meansure the flour by lightly spooning it inot the measuring cup and then leveling off, or did you scoop it out of the flour bag/container with the measuring cup and then level off?

Did you soften the butter or use it cold from the fridge?

I've never had a problem with NFSC, and I use the spooning into the cup method for the flour and get my butter nice and soft.

HTH

RedPanda

Believe it or not it may be the butter... I find that if my butter is really soft I am good - if it is slightly cold it tends to make the dough too flaky... you know how you make a pie crust with ice cold butter and it just "peas" up - that is what happens with mine if the butter is just a tad cold (not rock hard). Maybe the kneading or zap in the micro helped it to relax the butter and provided more moisture.

I also made two batches with two different kinds of butter and saw a difference. The 'el cheapo brand did better with the dough forming than the more expensive one - these were for the school so I didn't mind so much, but that may be a factor too.

Hope this helps, that's sort of what happens to me.

I'm finding that this recipe varies with the humidity levels in the ambient air. We've had super-dry air in Houston for seemingly weeks now, which is highly unusual, and everything I bake needs a touch less flour in it.

Normally, with our typical high levels of humidity, the sugar in the recipe, being hygroscopic, will "suck in" the moisture from the air. When there's no moisture in the air (we've been at 10% humidity!!!), the sugar isn't sucking any extra in, so you either have to increase the liquids added to the recipe, or decrease the flour.

redpanda ~ to answer your questions,

I measured out all the flour into another container (sometimes get too many interruptions from my little one and thought this was better than trying to figure out where I left off count wise ) then added the baking soda and then mixed that in, then using my measuring cup scooped the flour into my mixer a cup at a time.

I let my butter sit out on the counter for 3 hours and I only had it in the refrigerator prior to taking it out to the counter.

From the sounds of it, it seems not everyone uses all their flour so maybe I'll just to have to try that and see what happens. If humidity does have anything to do with it, its been cold, cold here in Michigan so I imagine the house is dryer than normal.

In the end I was able to work with the dough and made some nice looking cookies ~ just need to decorate now.

Thanks for the tips and suggestion, I sure do appreciate it.

Thanks ksue ~ I did use baking powder NOT baking soda

By the way ... it's baking POWDER in that recipe, not baking SODA.